By: Timothy Johnson, WFSC
‘18
Counting
quail is important to successful management of the species. Understanding the relationship between
management actions and population trends is a necessity in order to make sound
management decisions. Quail counts will allow you to observe whether your
management actions are positively or negatively impacting quail populations.
Having an accurate estimate of the local quail population also allows the
landowner to set appropriate harvest limits for the next hunting season. This is especially critical because of the
“boom and bust” trend of quail. In a “boom
year, moderate harvest may be acceptable, but in a “bust” year hunting may need
to be limited or deferred completely. For more information on hunting see “Hunting as a Tool for
Quail Management”
by James Cash.
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| Spring call counts are one effective method of counting quail. In order to be effective during the peak season of May and early June preparation should begin early. Photo courtesy of Dale Rollins. |
Preparation
Ideally,
eight listening locations should be set up on a transect about a mile apart and
permanently marked with a t-post labeled 0-8 respectively. The transect should represent all different
vegetative areas of the property that you are on. On smaller properties, it may
not be possible to have 8 listening locations.
A general rule for these properties is to have one listening poser per
square mile of property. It is also
important to avoid major roadways, oil equipment, or other sources of
substantial noise that prevent hearing bobwhite calls evenly at listening
locations. The Northern Bobwhite
Management Calendar
will also be a useful tool to you once you begin counting.
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| It is important, when setting up your route, to not only separate listening stations by 1 mile, but also to spread them out. This is so that at each station you are not able to hear calls from a previous one. The first and second transects designs above are good, while the third and fourth transects designs are bad. You should avoid a transect like this because the likeliness of counting the same quail multiple times will give you and inaccurate estimate of quail numbers. Photo courtesy of AgriLife Extension. |
Three
or more counts should be performed in the spring, during late May and early
June. It is best to spread them out at least every other day. When doing multiple counts always start at a
different post. For example, start at post 1 on day 1, post 2 on day 2, etc. so
that you can observe different call activity at different times in the morning.
Quail call less as the morning goes on,
so staggering your posts is important to reduce the influence of time on the
quail you count. Moving through the
route in reverse is also a way to reduce time as a factor. It is also important not to try to conduct
call counts on days when it is raining or wind exceeds 10 mph. These conditions will cause you to not receive
accurate results, because they may suppress calling activity.
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Quail may be seen as you travel your transect. It is important to make note of these on your count.
Photo courtesy of Rebekah Ruzicka.
|
Arrive
at the first listening post 15 minutes before sunrise with your population data sheets and stopwatch. This timing is extremely important because
quail will only call for a few hours after sunrise. Quietly exit and walk away from your vehicle
so that the sound of your engine cooling does not interfere with hearing quail
calls. Count all calling quail at the
station for five minutes, using a stopwatch to keep time. Make sure to mark the total calls and mark the
location of the quail on your chart. Also
count any quail you see even if they do not call. After five minutes have
elapsed, move on to the next station and continue until you have been to all
counting stations. Wait a few minutes
after your arrival so quail have a few minutes to resume normal calling
activity. Quail calling activity vary in frequency, but if they are actively
calling remembering every quail’s location can be difficult. To combat this, mark
the location of the quail on the chart so that a quail is not counted more than
once.
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| An example Quail Count Chart with rings at 200, 400, and 600 yards. When counting make tallies for every call heard and mark the approximate location of the quail with an X. Circled to the bottom left your fraction for that location: 4 quail over 43 call. Photo Courtesy of AgriLife Extension. |
This
has been and overview on how to perform spring call counts for the coming
season and to make your quail management more successful for the following
years. For more information see the Texas
A&M AgriLife Extension’s video on spring call
counts
and the Texas Quail Index
Handbook.
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| Bobwhite Management Calendar App. Photo courtesy of AgriLife Extension. |
Literature Cited
Peterson, M. J. 2001. Northern bobwhite
and scaled quail abundance and hunting regulation: a Texas example. Journal
of Wildlife Management 65:828–837. College Station, Texas, USA
Rollins, D., J. Brooks, N. Wilkins, and D. Ransom. 2005.
Counting Quail. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Publication B-6173.
College Station, Texas, USA
Rollins, Dale, and
Ruzicka, Rebekah. 2014. Texas Quail Index: Team Handbook. College Station,
Texas, USA