Get all the needs of a covey or brood of quail as close to each other as practical.  The greater the distance between these needs, the higher the risk quail face from weather extremes and predators.  Think about where you see quail, and ask yourself why you find quail in or near shrubby cover next

to feeding areas.

Basic Habitat Needs:

Quail have three basic habitat needs:

Bare Ground:

Chicks and adult birds alike need open ground to move about and find food.  Bare ground should

have a canopy of annual plants or legumes for overhead protection.  These plants attract insects

for chicks and later produce seed to get a covey through winter.  Examples of essential cover are:

Food plot research shows that broods can’t find enough insects in weed-free, clean-tilled cropland to sustain themselves.  Millets, milo and soybeans are most attractive to insects. Missouri research discovered that legumes such as lespedeza, clover and alfalfa are also attractive to insects that broods eat.

Shrubby Cover:

Quail require shrubby cover on a daily basis.  They use it to loaf during sunny afternoons or to escape weather, predators and hunters.  The most effective shrubby cover has upright stems, like blackberry, plum and dogwood thickets, complemented by a large amount of bare ground…quail avoid an understory of fescue or brome. Missouri research found quail an average of 70 feet from shrubby cover at any given time of the day. Not desirable as shrubby cover are fencelines, woodland edges and draws dominated by mature trees.  Shrub thickets overtopped by mature trees are generally avoided, too.

Diverse Grass/Legume Mixtures:

If grassland is managed right, it can be used as both nesting and brood-rearing cover. If not managed, only

the very edges next to bare ground may be used for nesting.  Successful brood-rearing is not likely in unmanaged grasses.  Large expanses of unmanaged grassland usually have few quail, even if shrubby cover is present because bare ground is missing.  Grass should be burned, light disked or otherwise

disturbed on a regular basis to encourage quail to use

the entire field.  Mowing alone is not adequate to create bare ground and is generally discouraged for

quail management.  Grasses with clumpy, upright growth are preferred.  Legumes, such as ladino clover, lespedeza and alfalfa are highly productive for quail. Aggressive, sod-forming grasses such as fescue, smooth brome and Reed’s Canarygrass should not be planted if you want to promote quail.

Putting It All Together:

Landowners should first set a quail population goal.  A covey on every 40 acres?  …on every 20 acres?  Say your goal is one covey for every fifteen acres.  Provide all three basic needs on every 15 acres that you manage for quail.  If the goal is a covey per 40 acres, then provide the three basic needs in every 40 acres. Remember to put all three basic needs next to each other.  The farther apart these needs are, the less productive the land is for quail.

On a row-crop farm, a good grouping of quail needs can be created with wooded fencelines and draws.  Make sure edges contain plenty of shrubs, and use U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and other conservation programs to install field borders or buffers containing quail-friendly grass mixes. The interior of a cropfield can be made more productive for quail by planting contour buffer strips (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Row crop farm with three quail needs met.

 On a grazing farm, help provide quail needs by fencing to exclude livestock from woodlands, streams and wooded draws.  Fenced areas can be managed to promote shrubs, nesting and even eradicate fescue to encourage bare ground for brooding and feeding. Many agencies offer cost-sharing opportunities for fencing wooded areas and streams.

A property managed primarily for wildlife offers more options for making every acre count for quail (Figure 2).  Because each property is different, it’s best to consult a Missouri Dept. of Conservation Private Lands Conservationist for an on-site visit to design a quail management plan.

Figure 2. Property managed for wildlife.

Summary:

Proper placement and management of quail habitat needs is essential for the restoration of quail populations. The three basic habitat needs—bare ground with an overhead canopy of legumes or annual plants, dense shrubby cover, and diverse managed grass and broadleaf mixes—are most effective when placed as close to each other as practical.  Pick a goal—say, a covey for every 15 acres—and provide these three needs on every 15 acres you manage for quail.