I can address this because I have been working with this issue for about the last 15 years. The short answer is that genetic problems depend on numbers of domestic birds released and whether or not there are wild birds still lingering at the site. The worst case scenario is where you have a faltering wild population and large numbers of domestics are released; we're talking hundreds or thousands. The other end of the spectrum is a site back in the woods where wild birds are completely gone and there is no way for the domestics to make contact with wild ones. It's a very complex and difficult issue. Also, to clarify one point, domestic bobwhites are not just released by people who are hunting them. As we have heard from a few posts in the last couple of days, they are being released by well meaning people that just want to have them around. They are also released for dog training and dog field trials. Both of the latter are legitimate uses as long as the released birds are recovered using call boxes or are shot. One last thing, I prefer the accurate term of domestic in referring to so-called pen-raised bobwhites because all of the birds than can be purchased and raised successfully in a pen are domesticated stocks that have been artificially selected (as opposed to naturally selected) in the same way as dog or cattle breeds. Some, for example the Wisconsin jumbo, were selected for very large breast size for the food market. The Tennessee red is an unusual breed that was originally taken from some red morphs here in TN and propagated in Wisconsin for marketing as an ornamental quail. Some of these have made there way back here to TN no doubt to liven up wild populations to make them "more colorful." Roger D. Applegate Small Game Coordinator Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Ellington Agricultural Center PO Box 40747 Nashville, TN 37204 PH: 615/781-6616 FAX: 615/781-6654 Email: roger.applegate@xxxxxxxxxxx UPS Address: 440 Hogan Road Nashville, TN 37220 FedEx Address: 5107 Edmonson Pike Nashville, TN 37211 =================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 //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 _____________________________________________________________