By James Cash, Texas A&M WFSC ‘17
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| Figure A. Gambel's quail visiting a supplemental water station. Photo courtesy of Mark Tyson. |
In most situations quail do not need
access to free standing water. Preformed water found in forbs, insects, and
seeds are usually sufficient to provide quail with the water requirements they
need to survive and reproduce (Guthery et al). However, supplemental water may become important for quail
in extremely xeric environments (deserts) or during times of extreme drought
conditions (Guthery et al). It was found
in a 1952 study in Nevada that Gambel’s quail require drinking water in
situations where the quail’s diet lacks succulent food or the ambient
temperature is near to or greater than the quail’s internal body temperature (Gullion
et al). It is likely that this holds true for all quail species.
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| Figure B. Small game water guzzler. Photo courtesy of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. |
There are a few ways to give quail on your land access to
more water if you believe that conditions warrant it. One easy fix is to allow
water from livestock troughs to overflow onto the ground. The resulting moist
area can provide water to quail either through standing water that may pool in
that area or by increasing the abundance of preformed water sources, i.e. forbs
and insects. This can be seen in figure A, which shows a water trough with
water overflowing off the left side and creating a small area of lush vegetation.
This photograph also shows a ramp on the side of the trough to allow quail to
drink directly from the trough. Another
option available to the land owner is to install watering devices such as the
small game guzzler in figure B. “Harvesting Rainwater for Wildlife” is a publication by Texas A&M
AgriLife Extension that provides instructions for constructing a wide variety
of rainwater catchment devices for providing water to wildlife species. Examples
of some of the watering devices diagramed in “Harvesting Rainwater for
Wildlife” are shown is figure C. A third option is to increase the available
preformed water sources through the construction of spreader dams. These short
earthen dams are used to cause flowing water on dirt roads and other gently
sloping areas to slow down and soak into the ground, reducing erosion and
capturing water that would otherwise have been lost. The resulting moist areas
create small, lush green oases that provide food, cover, and preformed water to
quail. Follow this link to watch a video further describing
how to build these quail oases.
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| Figure C. Texas AgriLife Extension Publication B-6182 “Harvesting Rainwater for Wildlife” |
Works Cited
Gullion, G. W., and A. M. Gullion.
1964. Water economy of gambel quail. The Condor. 66:32-40
Guthery, F. S., and N. E. Koerth.
1992. Substandard water intake and inhibition of bobwhite reproduction during
drought. The Journal of Wildlife Management. 56:760-768
Texas AgriLife Extension Service.
2008. Harvesting rainwater for wildlife. B-6182