Audubon Texas Quail Initiative, 2
Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife
The Texas Chapter of the Audubon Society unveiled its quail and grassland bird program in 2003.
Audubon became interested in getting involved in quail and quail management at the state level due to [the fact] grassland birds on the whole have been declining at an alarming rate range wide.
Kyle Brazil is leader of the Audubon Texas quail and grassland bird program, which helps landowners develop plans to manage quail habitat.
Quail like a mixture of woody, herbaceous, or grass cover—also mixed with forbs, or weeds, and bare ground. And they like that interspersed over the landscape. They like to have every component of their habitat within a stone’s throw.
For a long-term, sustainable quail population, Brazil says quail need 3 to 5thousand acres of quality habitat.
That being said, you have to work with what you have. And so managing as much area as possible for quail habitat is what you need to do. Specifically managing for nesting habitat, which is the major limiting factor across the range. Nesting habitat is made up of native bunch grasses. Here in Texas we typically think of little bluestem.
Landowners are vital to quail’s survival, and the reasons landowners have for preserving quail habitat varies.
The economic element is part of it. The other part being that quail, in Texas, are also very culturally important—it’s part of our history. And Texans, as you know, like to maintain their history.
Learn about quail management at passporttotexas.org.
That’s our show… or Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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