[TN-Bird] Bobwhite Quail needs more help than its getting...

  • From: Viclcsw@xxxxxxx
  • To: littlezz@xxxxxxxxx, tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, knoxvilletos@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, siwrbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2011 11:53:18 -0400 (EDT)

 
Thank you, Bill, for this insightful Breeding Bird Survey  analysis.  It is 
apparent that we ALL need to put our heads  together, not as separate 
organizations, but all conservation groups as one  community, to see what in 
addition to current efforts can be  done to help the bobwhite quail in our 
state, and in our country.   Shouldn't the bobwhite quail be listed as 
endangered 
in Tennessee/in the  USA?    
 
Approximately nine years ago, I heard Ralph Dimmick, a biologist and  
expert on the bobwhite quail, speak at the sandhill crane festival at  
Birchwood. 
 His words impressed me at that time, and the concern his  words generated 
for this species has remained with me.  He  showed graphs and described a 
community ecology that predicted  the decline that is reported in Bill's  
analysis below.   He likened the bobwhite quail and its  breeding community to 
the passenger pigeon whose extinction could not be  predicted with numbers 
ecology.  The extinction of the passenger  pigeon happened for many reasons, 
but one of the chief reasons was,  it declined below the community size 
required for  breeding. 
 
Do we know the numbers of bobwhites that must exist in a community inorder  
for breeding to occur?  It is well known, that neither the wildness of  
this species nor its community ecology can be taught by humans.  There  will be 
no reintroduction of this bird if it's wild community ecology is  lost.  
They become like chickens, without defense against  predation.  Below, I have 
pasted (not sure that's allowed on the  listserve), Bill Pulliam's graph and 
analysis of the breeding bird surveys for  bobwhite quail.  
 
In the alternative, please also visit the link to Bill's website to  see 
his entire report.  It is very interesting.  Bobwhites are  found in the group 
"waterfowl to herons".
 
http://bbill.blogspot.com/2011/09/breeding-bird-survey-in-  
tennessee-45.html

Northern Bobwhite

 
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o9xl_D2Klv4/ToP4gyKzlqI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/rlbDTU4rXrk/s1600/NorthernBobwhite.png)
 35  year change: -26.00 (-78%) ± 2.11

This is one of the most disturbing  graphs that came out of this project. 
Not only has this formerly abundant bird  shown a drastic decline, the drop 
appears to be linear (possibly even  accelerating). Projecting this line 
forward shows a Bobwhite that has been  effectively extirpated from Tennessee 
in 
2014 -- just three years away. If you  look at the change from 1966 to 2010 
(rather than the difference in the 10-year  averages), the decline is 
nearly 90%. In the 1960s this was one of the most  abundant species on 
Tennessee 
BBS routes; in recent years it is has not been  detected at all on many of 
them. 
 
Vickie  Henderson
Knoxville,  TN
Knox  County
 
 
 
In a message dated 10/11/2011 11:31:56 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
littlezz@xxxxxxxxx writes:

I have  done some examinations and analyses of the 45 years of  
Breeding Bird  Survey data for Tennessee (1966 through 2010) and  
posted some of the  results on my  blog:

http://bbill.blogspot.com/2011/09/breeding-bird-survey-in-  
tennessee-45.html

Though some species have shown major declines  since the BBS began in  
1966, and one (Bewick's Wren) has been all  but extirpated, overall  
the story is quite positive.  Most  species have increased during this  
time, with a median change of  +66%.  Raptors and forest birds have  
fared the best  overall.  Non-neotropical migrant forest species have  
on  average tripled in abundance; raptors have shown a median increase   
of nearly 8-fold!  Even the beleaguered neotropical migrants have  for  
the most part held steady or increased.

Bill  Pulliam
Hohenwald TN
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  • » [TN-Bird] Bobwhite Quail needs more help than its getting... - Viclcsw