IMPACTS OF PREDATION ON QUAIL

• Main Author: John P. Carroll
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Southeastern U. S. is well documen; Circus cyaneus
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.694.8379; http://texnat.tamu.edu/files/2010/09/012.pdf

Abstract: Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) populations have declined throughout most of their distribution, and these declines have become more dramatic in recent years. In this review, we examine the role of predation in quail management. Predation is the major source of nest loss and of mortality for young and adult quail. Mean nest success across studies reviewed was 28%. Mammalian predators most often implicated in nest predation include striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), raccoons (Procyon lotor), opossums (Didelphis virginianus), foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus and Vulpes vulpes), coyotes (Canis latrans), and feral hogs (Sus scrofa). Accipiters (Accipiter spp.) and northern harriers (Circus cyaneus) are the most common avian predators of quail. Less information is available for assessing the impact of predation on scaled quail, but observations from areas where bobwhites and scaled quail are sympatric suggested that scaled quail are less vulnerable to predation than bobwhites. Although quail have adaptations for coping with high predation rates (e.g., renesting, large clutches), populations in some areas may be suppressed by predation. Changes in land use, management practices, and predator communities interact to depress quail populations over much of the bobwhite’s range. Because of their relatively small size, and the fact that they spend their entire lives on the ground, various species of quail are extremely vulnerable to predation. However, prevailing paradigms in quail management suggest that predators are rarely a management concern, and that predation should be managed only indirectly (i.e., habitat management) (Errington 1934). Rollins and Carroll (2001) reviewed the evidence relative to the impacts of predation on northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter bobwhite) and scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) as models for North American species. This paper is an abridged summary of that review.