[TN-Bird] Re: Close Encounter with Northern Bobwhite- Ensley Bottoms

Carol Reese
Ornamental Horticulture Specialist -Western District
University of Tennessee Extension Service
605 Airways Blvd.
Jackson TN 38301
731 425 4767 email  jreese5@xxxxxxx

I enjoyed Jeff's pictures and comments, especially concerning the
uneducated blaming coyote and other predators for the decline in quail
populations. If you actually search for and read published research on
quail predation, coyotes are a benefit, not a detriment. They consume the
worst of the quail's enemies, and very few quail.

 At the bottom, I am pasting in a comment from a web site of the Southeast
Quail Study Group sponsored by Quail Unlimited, here is the link if you
want to read more ;

http://seqsg.qu.org/seqsg/newsletter2.cfm

It's a shame those  four wheeling crusaders aren't carrying weedkiller and
spraying fescue instead of carrying guns and shooting  coyotes. Fescue
pasture is a much bigger threat to quail than any predator. cr

 "Although predation losses are high, the removal of predators is not a
simple matter because many of the quail's enemies eat other quail
predators. Research in the 1990s in Missouri and other states identified
snakes as a major consumer of quail eggs. Even rodents, particularly cotton
rats, take a toll on quail nests. Fortunately for quail and their
enthusiasts, predators such as hawks, owls, coyotes and bobcats help keep
these egg eaters in check. The image of a round-bellied fox, coyote or hawk
belching quail feathers is a handy scapegoat, but it's inaccurate. In fact,
the red-tailed hawk, which is often blamed for quail problems because it is
so conspicuous, probably does far more good than bad for quail. First,
red-tailed hawks prey heavily on snakes, the destroyer of many quail nests.
Second, these hawks displace Cooper's hawks, a species supremely adapted to
preying on quail. Similarly, coyotes take relatively few quail, but they
displace the more serious nest predator, the fox. Both coyotes and bobcats
prey on other quail nest predators, are believed to provide a net benefit
to quail. Based on these facts of quail life, habitat can be managed to
increase quail production as follows:"
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            



                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            



=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with
first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation.
You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds
you report were seen.  The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should
appear in the first paragraph.
_____________________________________________________________
      To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
                    tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
_____________________________________________________________ 
                To unsubscribe, send email to:
                 tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
            with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
______________________________________________________________
  TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 
       Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
        endorse the views or opinions expressed
        by the members of this discussion group.
 
         Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
                 wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
                ------------------------------
                Assistant Moderator Andy Jones
                         Cleveland, OH
                -------------------------------
               Assistant Moderator Dave Worley
                          Rosedale, VA
__________________________________________________________
         
          Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
              web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

                          ARCHIVES
 TN-Bird Net Archives at http://www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/

                       MAP RESOURCES
Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif
Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com

_____________________________________________________________

Other related posts: