Bobwhites and bird dogs are two of Bill Webb's favorite things. His pal
Jerry Allen shares Webb's love of quail. In fact, their fathers were
hunting buddies.
To keep the tradition going, Webb and Allen have worked relentlessly to
bring bobwhites back to The Webb Farm in Ellerbe, N.C. Surprisingly,
after almost losing the native quail population to a 20-inch snowstorm,
they've restored bobwhites to a good population.
After preparing habitat, Webb and Allen recently started a program of
buying day-old chicks from a local producer. For five weeks, the chicks
live in a Surrogator brooder box.
The Surrogator is a propane-heated outdoor brooder. It acts as a
surrogate parent by providing food, water, warmth and protection for the
chicks' first five weeks. During this time, the Surrogator is located in
quail habitat, and the chicks are protected at their most vulnerable
time. (The Surrogator is available at www.quailrestoration.com)
Greg Koch invented the Surrogator. After studying quail, Koch observed
that for up to five weeks young birds maintain wild instincts to hide
and feed. After that, their survival instincts diminish. By nine weeks,
few released birds survive long in the wild.
At five weeks, Webb and Allen band their birds and release them in
groups of 30 around the farm. During the hunting season, quail are
carefully harvested so that at least eight birds remain in each covey.
By collecting bands, the hunters are delighted to find that many
released quail are surviving for months. They believe thereleased birds
are mating and reproducing in the wild.
Results from using brooder boxes vary, with weather being a major
factor. Webb and Allen lost 100 of 125 chicks in one brood but had 80 to
90% survival in other groups. And quail must have habitat to survive
once they're released.
To help birds feed but escape predators, Webb has planted bicolor
lespedeza and browntop millet food plots bordering thick cover. He has
drilled stands of 8-foot-tall Egyptian wheat as travel lanes from cover
to food plots. His Conservation Reserve Program fields are planted in
quail-friendly longleaf pine. His remaining timber stands are well
thinned.
While the old friends have certainly increased their sporting fun,
biologists caution that landowners should not expect to build quail
populations with pen-raised birds. The long-term survival rate is
usually low.
Without good habitat waiting for them, released birds are caught by
predators or leave a farm in search of a better area.
Webb has worked diligently on his wildlife habitat, and it's paying off
for him. He and Allen have a great time pursuing fast-flying birds and
continuing a bobwhite tradition with their children and grandchildren.
Quail-Happy Habitat
Bill Webb and his mother gave a lot of thought before devoting most of
their farm to quail habitat. Once they made the decision, Webb went all
the way.
He planted CRP land in longleaf pine. "Longleaf pine and quail go great
together. Both respond well to fire," says Webb.
Longleaf has a thick cork bark that helps it thrive after
low-temperature, controlled fires. Burning a thick understory allows
sunlight to stimulate native plants, which are favorite quail foods.
Webb also has thinned his pine stands. Again, this allows sunlight to
reach the soil and produce plants that provide feed and cover for quail.
By growing longleaf and thinning his pine stands, Webb has given up some
timber production. But he thinks it will increase land values in the
long run.
"There's a lot of good timberland in our area. But it's rare to find
land with well-developed wildlife habitat," says Webb.