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Bobwhite quail in need of 'living space'Oklahoma Much of United States has seen a steady decline in bobwhite quail over the past century. There is one main reason for the population downfall: people. "It's simple. There is no place for them to live," said Fred Guthery, holder of Oklahoma State University's Bollenbach Endowed Chair in Wildlife Ecology. "(There is a hesitation) to sacrifice people and businesses for quail." A professor with OSU's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Guthery has been conducting research on the species since 1977, publishing three books on various aspects of bobwhite ecology and management. The population decline has been evident; however, parts of the Midwest region have not experienced the drop off. Western Oklahoma, southwestern Kansas and northern and southern Texas maintain a strong population of bobwhites. This can be explained by the simple fact that a large portion of that land is prime real estate for the species, and people have not come in to take over the quail habitat. "If you want to covert from no quail to some quail, the best thing you can do for your land is to leave it for a few years, to create a brushy prairie habitat," Guthery advised landowners who wish to manage their property for the popular game bird. "If you have the basic habitat for them to live in, you've got 95 percent of your work done as far as management." Guthery said this practice in generally not feasible, but it highlights some costs in reversing the quail decline. In a good year, a population of quail can multiply itself by about half. For years, many hunters have thought that throwing feed or killing off predators would increase the population. Guthery cautions that these management tactics have variable results. The use of feeders will allow hunters to have better chances of finding the game based simply on proximity, not because there are more. "If you have a feeder, a covey will live in about 25 acres; without any feeder, a covey will cover 80 acres or more," Guthery said. "Using feeders is an effective way to alter their distribution." If the downward spiral of bobwhites continues, the species may be eliminated at some point in the distant future. However, Guthery said the large ranches in western Oklahoma probably will support bobwhite populations into the indefinite future.
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