BIOLOGICAL DATA AND HABITAT REQUIREMENTS
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Colinus virginianus | Northern Bobwhite 



TIMING OF MAJOR LIFE HISTORY EVENTS : 
Mating Season - April through June in the South, but can be as early as
                February and March; begins a few weeks later in the
                North.
Clutch - 14 to 16 eggs, usually laid 15 to 18 days after mating;
         incubation period is 23 days; two females may lay eggs
         in one nest; may lay subsequent clutches if others fail.
Fledge - 14 days, but juveniles remain with adults for about 50 days.
Lifespan - up to 10 years.
[8,11,15,16]


PREFERRED HABITAT : 
Northern bobwhite prefer open hardwood forests and southern pine
forests, as well as grasslands, pastures, meadows, and agricultural land
with shrubby cover.  Northern bobwhite tend to avoid areas with dense
tree and shrub cover [2,10,16].  In a Texas study, however, northern
bobwhite selected dense herbaceaous cover and selected areas with grass
cover as opposed to bare ground [20].  In the Southwest, bobwhite quail
may select mesquite canyons with pricklypear cactus (Opuntia spp.)
cover in the summer and open woodlands in the winter [2].  Nest sites
are usually found near woodland openings where ground cover is not too
thick [15].  In Arizona, masked bobwhite quail select areas with 75
percent to 100 percent ground cover near edges of mesquite and
grassland/forb communities [6].
  


COVER REQUIREMENTS : 
Northern bobwhite need brushy cover for hiding and resting, but cover
should be open enough to allow the birds to move about and see
predators.  In the Southwest, a mature mesquite, paloverde (Cercidium
spp.), and wolfberry (Lycium spp.) overstory with lovegrass (Eragrositis
spp.) and gramma grass (Bouteloua spp.) in the understory provides ample
cover for masked bobwhite quail [6].  Mesquite mixed with pricklypear
cactus and sumac (Rhus spp.) also provides good cover [10].  Cover
should be 100 to 200 yards (91.4-182.8 m) apart and 3 to 10 yards
(2.7-9.1 m) in diameter [10].

Northern bobwhite nest in shallow depressions on the ground in areas
where density of grasses and forbs is moderate [2,15].  A mix of
cropland, woodland, and pasture that provides essential foods is ideal
[15].  Northern bobwhite roost in coveys (formations of birds in a
circle) in thick vegetation during winter [16].


FOOD HABITS : 
Northern bobwhite eat primarily seeds, fruits, and insects, as well as
new plant growth in the spring [2].  They tend to eat a larger amount
and greater variety of legume (Leguminosae) seeds than seeds from any
other plant family, except in southern Florida and the West [15].  Some
food plants include oak, pine, and sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
mast, mesquite, bayberry (Myrica cerifera), persimmon (Diospyros spp.),
redbay (Persea borbonia), flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), partridge
pea (Cassia spp.), lespedeza (Lespedeza spp.), milkpea (Galactia spp.),
gallberry (Ilex spp.), skunk daisy (Ximenesia encelioides), plum (Prunus
spp.), grape (Vitis spp.),, hackberry (Celtis spp.), panicgrass (Panicum
spp.), and clover (Trifolium spp.).  Quail also consume cowpeas (Vigna
spp.), corn (Zea mays), sorghum (Sorghum spp.), and other cultivated
small grains, but these grains are usually gleaned from fields after
harvest; quail seldom damage growing crops.  Insects eaten by northern
bobwhite include mosquitoes, beetles (Coleoptera), grasshoppers
(Orthoptera), and ants (Hymenoptera) [2,3,10,13,15,16].


PREDATORS : 
Predators of adult northern bobwhite include hawks and eagles
(Accipitridae), falcons (Falconidae), foxes (Vulpes, Urocyon), bobcat
(Lynx rufus), and domestic cats (Felis sylvestris) and dogs (Canis
domesticus).  Predators of chicks and eggs include weasels and skunks
(Mustelidae), raccoons (Procyon lotor), Virginia opossum (Didelphis
virginiana), snakes (Coluber spp.; Elaphe spp.), crows and ravens
(Corvus spp.), rats (Ratus norvegicus), and squirrels and chipmunks
(Sciuridae) [8,11,16].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Good northern bobwhite habitat requires good interspersion of food
species and cover that is not too dense.  Good habitat can support about
one bird per acre (2.5/ha) [11].  In a habitat improvement experiment in
Florida, pine forests were cleared and subterranean clover (Trifolium
subterraneum) planted to encourage the establishment of arthropods, an
important food for chicks [14].  Habitat management programs in Illinois
included planting food patches and a combination of prescribed burning
and sharecropping.  Food patch plantings generally failed to be of any
long-term value.  Areas that were sharecropped and burned during winter
and spring at 2-year intervals produced more quail than areas planted
with food patches or areas that were sharecropped but not burned [3].

Rosene [15] recommended managing forests on an uneven-aged rotation
basis, and thinning after 20 years to maintain an open canopy.  He also
suggested creating parklike woodlands in the South with high open
canopies and a thin, spotty pattern of shrubs in the understory.  For
woodlands in the northern fringes of northern bobwhite range, it is best
to maintain groups of conifers with low growing limbs as insulation
against severe weather.



REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Colinus virginianus | Northern Bobwhite