Quail, like many ground-feeding birds' survival depends on food that has
not been poisoned. They do badly in areas where our species 1) cut down
all thickets to deter homeless people or rats...or 2) use toxics
in wild non-toxic areas where brush flourishes quail will do fine, despite
housecats, foxes, otter or coyote
They will become tamish in areas where they are fed, and their health is
safe
Our eastern in are pretty much driving the nati ve bobwhite into
extinction...clear that brush, build that mall, herbicide those thistles
As a Midwestern kid I used to watch a covey of 20 or more run around my
parents' lawn bordered by dense shrubbery..."bob-wite" was the first
bird whistle I learned to imitate...saw feral ones once in park in
Frankfurt, Germany, heard that call and was amazed.
Turkeys--I have info...will produce piece soon for Salem Audubon newsletter
and Salem Reporter online about bringing turkeys into the Willamette, some
dates and info not found
online...yet
On Thu, Oct 14, 2021 at 5:45 PM Robert O'Brien <baro@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Bobwhite were heard moderately frequently here when we arrived in 1973.
That lasted maybe 10 years or so and nothing since.
Don't know whether ODFW still gives out Bobwhite eggs/chicks?
Then, California Quail, They are around sporadically. Occasionally
fairly large coveys, currently just a single pair that apparently did not
breed or were unsuccessful. Does ODFW release these? I believe they are
more common east of the mountains? Drier there? Where, if anywhere, were
they originally native in Oregon? Where introduced?
Bob OBrien Carver OR
On Thu, Oct 14, 2021 at 4:02 AM Wayne Hoffman <whoffman@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi -
IMO the decline and near-disappearance of pheasants as breeding birds in
Oregon was caused by ODFW (including its predecessor, Oregon Game
Commission). The original successful introduction was of "Chinese"
Ring-necked Pheasants. Starting in the 1950s, the Game Commission used
federal Pittman-Robertson money (from excise taxes on firearms, etc.) to
set up a gamebird breeding program, which introduced Turkeys, Chuckars, and
a dozen or so other species that never established. They decided that they
could find a different subspecies of pheasant that would be better-adapted
to Oregon's climate. First came "Mongolian" Pheasants, eventually
"Sichuan" Pheasants (ring neckless pheasants). With each new introduction,
the local breeding population crashed.
IMO, the mongrels produced following each introduction were genetically
incompetent and incapable of replacing themselves. Back here in NC,
Bobwhite Quail have become quite rare, and the game managers are baffled.
I suspect the same cause: lots of people buy quail eggs to raise and turn
loose the youngsters on their hunting land, and natural production has
tanked.
The same has not happened with turkeys anywhere I know of, so perhaps
their genome is more resistant to this kind of disruption...
Wayne
------------------------------
*From: *"Lars Per Norgren" <larspernorgren@xxxxxxxxx>
*To: *"atowhee" <atowhee@xxxxxxxxx>, "obol" <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
"MidValleyNature" <mid-valley-nature@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Sent: *Wednesday, October 13, 2021 11:40:45 PM
*Subject: *[obol] Re: Turkey question
The initial introduction of Merriam's Turkey was a limited success east
of the Cascades. A bit of a hunting season resulted east of the summit and
north of Hwy 26 by the late 60s. The introduction of Rio Grande Turkey
resulted in the current ubiquity, from Clatsop County to Hell's Canyon.
They became fairly easy to find on the westside by the early 90s and seem
to continue spreading and increasing. They were sporadic in my area of nw
Washington County. Including our yard, from roughly 2000 to 2008, but l
don't think l've detected a single one here in over a decade.
There's hope they might go away. Supposedly the first successful
introduction of Ring-necked Pheasant anywhere in North America was Peterson
Butte in Linn County. For the past ten years there are typically no
pheasants counted on any of the CBCs in the southern Willamette Valley. The
literature distributed by ODF&W in the late 60s and early 70s claimed
turkeys ate almost exclusively grass seed. Did they really believe that?
I'd love to be wrong, but l think turkeys are as omnivorous as any
vertebrate. That means baby song birds of ground nesting species are on
their menu.
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
-------- Original message --------
From: Harry Fuller <atowhee@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: 10/13/21 6:35 PM (GMT-08:00)
To: OBOL <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, MidValleyNature <
mid-valley-nature@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [obol] Turkey question
when were turkeys introduced to Willamette Valley?
they certainly own our neighborhood in South Salem
--
Harry Fuller
author of: *San Francisco's Natural History: Sand Dunes to Streetcars:*
https://ecowise.wordpress.com/2017/04/20/sfnh/
author of *Great Gray Owls of CA-OR-WA*:
https://ecowise.wordpress.com/2015/05/08/the-great-gray-owl-book/
author of *Freeway Birding*: *freewaybirding.com
<http://freewaybirding.com>*
birding website: http://www.towhee.net
my birding blog: atowhee.wordpress.com
