FREEDOM HILLS-Bobwhite quail populations in Alabama and around the nation have declined over the last 40 years. During that time, land use practices have changed and subsequently, the habitat favorable for bobwhite quail has dwindled. It has been suggested that states should supplement bobwhite quail populations using stock from pen-raised birds to increase the populations on state-owned properties for hunting. It sounds like a good idea, but would it really be?
In the short term, releasing pen-raised bobwhite quail would increase the population for a week or 
so. In the long term, there are no benefits to the population, and in some cases, there may even be negative impacts to the wild bobwhite quail on the property.
Hunting preserves have long used the “put and take” strategy to increase quail numbers for hunters to enjoy. This involves the preserve placing birds and then coming along shortly afterward with hunters. Any quail not harvested during the hunt will then find it necessary to survive on their own. To this point in their life, they have been given food, water and protection and do not have the instinct to survive as a wild bird does. From the beginning of life, a wild bird has been taught survival skills by its parents, but a pen-raised bird has been dependent on the human for its basic needs.
Many states have studied survival rates between stocked pen-raised birds and stocked wild birds. The survival from one year to the next for pen-raised birds is around 1 percent, while survival in wild birds is 20 to 30 percent and sometimes even higher. Pen-raised birds are more susceptible to predation because they fly slower and are more prone to run than fly. They have difficulty in identifying food and fail to nest or successfully raise a brood, which is the key to increasing a population. All these factors are instinctive in wild birds.
The other factor that affects a pen-raised bird’s survival is disease—avian pox, salmonellosis and parasites, just to name a few. Pen-raised birds are held in confinement in proximity to other birds, which makes them more susceptible to diseases and parasites. Once released into the wild, these diseases and parasites can be transmitted to healthy wild bird populations. Because of these risks, stocking pen-raised bobwhite quail on state-owned property is not a reasonable solution for increasing wild bird populations.
Bobwhite quail need early successional habitat that can be regularly maintained. Prescribed fire is the most useful tool to establish and 
maintain this early successional habitat. Ideally, these burns need to be conducted on a rotating basis every two to four years. While prescribed burning will not provide an overnight change in the quail population, it does help create the opportunity for increased populations when combined with other beneficial habitat management practices.
Releasing pen-raised quail might seem like the quickest way to increase quail populations, but the best way to enhance quail populations, whether on public or private land, is through careful habitat management. Proper habitat management provides wild quail the opportunity to expand without the risk associated with releasing penned birds. Wild quail also provide a better challenge for the hunter.
For more information, contact Mitchell Marks, Wildlife Biologist, Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, 4200 White Pike, Cherokee, AL 35616.
MEDIA RELEASE/Mitchell Marks, Wildlife Biologist, Freedom Hills Wildlife Management Area
