Habitat & Conservation  |  03/20/2023

Quail Forever Helps Unveil “Bobscapes” Mobile App to Establish National Database for Bobwhite Quail


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New app tracks populations, directs habitat resources to landscapes where quail exist

Quail Forever and partners have announced a new Bobscapes mobile app designed to document northern bobwhite populations on a national scale, connect land managers with voluntary conservation assistance, and direct management resources to the landscapes where bobwhite currently inhabit. The comprehensive effort will help guide future management of the species, whose population has dipped by more than 80 percent since the 1970’s. 

“This revolutionary new app can be a game changer for our favorite upland bird, helping identify where northern bobwhite exist while funneling habitat resources in their direction,” said Dr. Jessica McGuire, Quail Forever’s Working Lands for Wildlife bobwhite program manager. “Private landowners and public land users can both take a lead role in future conservation efforts by helping define population distribution and abundance of bobwhite quail across their range.”

The Bobscapes mobile app is user-friendly and confidential – map coordinates for coveys, broods, or quail calls are only shared with a select group of biologists for consideration of future habitat work. Here’s how the app functions:

  • Documentation: Landowners or public land users submit a Bobscapes mobile app survey for any bobwhite sighting or mating/covey call heard in the field.
  • Outreach: Private landowners have the option of including their contact information for follow-up conservation assistance from one of our 235 professional Quail Forever biologists, NRCS staff, or state wildlife agency staff, depending on geography.
  • Planning: The surveys will generate a confidential distribution map of bobwhite quail in the central and eastern regions of the U.S. for researchers to target habitat resources for future population growth of the northern bobwhite.

Despite being one of the most well-studied birds in North America, wildlife experts still don’t have a good understanding of remaining bobwhite distribution across its range. The mobile app enlists the help of citizen scientists to collect the data needed to better manage habitat for bobwhite and other grassland species in the central and eastern U.S. 

The Bobscapes mobile app was made possible by a partnership between Quail Forever, the 

USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service Working Lands for Wildlife, and the University of Georgia Gamebird and Managed Ecosystems Lab

Download Bobscapes now and contribute to a brighter future for the northern bobwhite!