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Impacts of Predation on Northern Bobwhite and Scaled Quail Dale Rollins Texas A&M University, [email protected]

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Impacts of Predation on Northern Bobwhite and Scaled Quail Dale Rollins Texas A&M University, D-Rollins@Tamu.Edu University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Papers in Natural Resources Natural Resources, School of 2001 Impacts of predation on northern bobwhite and scaled quail Dale Rollins Texas A&M University, [email protected] John P. Carroll University of Georgia, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/natrespapers Part of the Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons, and the Other Environmental Sciences Commons Rollins, Dale and Carroll, John P., "Impacts of predation on northern bobwhite and scaled quail" (2001). Papers in Natural Resources. 651. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/natrespapers/651 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Natural Resources, School of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Papers in Natural Resources by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. SPECIALCOVERAGE 39 mpacts of predation on ,! orthern bobwhite and caled quail Nrthen 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%. Estimates of annual survival rates have varied from 5 to 26% for radiotelemetry studies and from 15 to 30% based on age-ratio studies. Breeding season survival esti- mates ranged from 13 to 51%in telemetry studies reviewed. Brood survival is the least studied aspect of quail survival;estimates ranged from 13 to 47%. 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 cya- neus) are the most common avian predators of quail. Less information is available to assess impact of predation on scaled quail, but observations from areas where bob- whites and scaled quail are sympatric suggested that scaled quail are less vulnerable to predation than bobwhites. Although quail have adapted to cope with high preda- tion rates (e.g., renesting, large clutches), populations in some areas may be sup- pressed by predation. Changes in land use, management practices, and predator communities interact to depress quail populations over much of the bobwhite's range. Additional studies are needed to assess the role of predation and predation management in light of these landscape-level changes. A variation of the Integrated Pest Management philosophy used in crop production is proposed as an appropriate model to address predation management for quail. Key Words avian recruitment, Callipepla squamata, Colinus virginianus, game birds, Integrated Pest Management, mesomammals, northern bobwhite, population regula- tion, predation, raptors, scaled quail ecse of theirrelatively small size and the fact thatthey ment suggestthat predators are rarelya managementcon- | ."-'' theirentire lives on the ground,various species of cern and thatpredation should be managedonly indirectly R qui s(Odontophoridae)are extremelyvulnerable to pre- (e.g., habitatmanagement; Errington 1934). Hereinwe ii mn.However, prevailing paradigms in quailmanage- reviewthe evidencerelative to the impactsof predation Address for Dale Rollins: Texas Agricultural Extension Service, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, 7887 U.S. Highway 87, San Angelo, TX 76901-9714, USA; e-mail: [email protected]. Address for John P. Carroll: Daniel B. Warnell School of Forest Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA; e-mail: [email protected]. Wildlife Society Bulletin 2001, 29(1):39-51 Peer refereed .......... 40 Wildlife Society, Bulletin 2001, 29(1):39-51 on northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus, hereafter quail trends vary among ecoregions (Peterson and Perez bobwhite) and scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) as 2000). Bobwhite populations in the Rolling Plains and models for North American species. For bobwhites, we South Texas Plains ecoregions have remained relatively focus our discussion primarily on the eastern and western stable, but roadside counts in 2000 were the lowest since peripheries of the range, i.e., the southeastern United counts began for the Gulf Prairies and Marshes, Cross States and Texas, respectively, because bobwhite abun- Timbers and Prairies, and Edwards Plateau ecoregions x Parks and Wildlife (Texas 2000).J- We do not discount the current managemtent para- digm of indirect predator control (i.e., halbitat man- Scaled quail However, the issue of ion as it Scaled quail range over most of agement).... predati the Chihuahuandesert, including relates to quail must be evaluated in a moire contem- portions of Arizona, Colorado, porary context of an increasingly fragmenited land- Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, in and Texas. Scaled quail populations scape...and temporal changes predator populations. ^havedeclined significantly (from -3.8%/yr from 1966 to 1991 to dance typically declines along a west-to-east gradient. -8.2%/yr from 1982 to 1996) throughouttheir range, We also identify areas where additional research is need- especially during the last 15 years (Brennan 1993; Church ed and offer a more contemporary philosophy of preda- et al. 1993; Schemnitz 1993, 1994; Peterson and Perez tion management for quail, which is based on the philos- 2000; Rollins 2000; Sauer et al. 2000). Scaled quail ophy of Integrated Pest Management. populations experienced a drastic, inexplicable decline about 1989 over much of their range in Oklahoma and Current status of bobwhite north Texas (Rollins 2000). Populations in the Oklahoma panhandle declined 50% from 1956 to 1991 (Schemnitz and scaled quail 1993), and scaled quail essentially disappearedalong the Bobwhites eastern periphery of its range, where they were common The decline of the bobwhite in the southeastern United to abundantin 1987 (Rollins 2000). Data from the Breed- States (U.S.) is well documented (reviewed by Brennan ing Bird Survey (Sauer et al. 2000) and the Texas Parks 1999). Bobwhite populations declined -2.8%/year from and Wildlife Department (2000) documented this demise 1966 to 1999 (P<0.01) across its range according to (Figure 2). Relative to the Southeast, land-use changes Breeding Bird Survey data (Sauer et al. 2000, Figure 1). have been less dramatic in scaled quail range, which is The decline of bobwhites is correlated generally with dominated largely by livestock grazing. dramatic changes in land use throughout the region over the last 80 years. The shift away from a landscape domi- Factors to nated rather diverse and in the contributing quail by low-impact agriculture declines early twentieth century to landscapes dominated by hard- population wood forests and intensive pine silviculture in the latter Aside from the possible impacts of predation and twentieth century reduced habitability for bobwhites. In land-use changes, other factors may be involved in the more recent dramatic in times, changes agriculturalprac- 50 - tices (e.g., clean farming, increased use of pesticides) also x may have contributed to poorer quality or quantity 0 of remaining habitats. In any event, a landscape that i A-AA A and of is 'A -A A. supported large widespread populations quail 0 it A A now gone. Presently, bobwhite populations over most of AA.A A-A ,..., A A A 0 .A', il~~~~Cr'd A. A.A the Southeast seem to be generally at much lesser levels "3 AA.h - and very fragmented (Brennan 1999). Although bobwhite densities are generally greater at 0 .......... I I. I I I . I I. I I I . I I . I I , ~~, the western periphery of their range (e.g., Texas), their 67 71 75 79 83 87 91 95 abundance there has declined at a rate of since -4.7/year Year 1981 (Sauer et al. 2000). The Texas population's trend is 1. Northern bobwhite abundance in the southeastern U.S. (dot- essentially parallel to that of populations in the Southeast Figure ted line) and Texas (solid line) according to Breeding Bird Survey data, (Figure 1). Bobwhites occur over most of Texas, but 1966-99 (Sauer et al. 2000). Predators and quail * Rollins and Carroll 41 declineof bobwhiteand scaled Table1. Nest success rates(%) and percentageof mortalitieslost to predatorsof bobwhitenests at var- ious locations. quailpopulations. Other factors believedto be to contributing Nest Methodof Lostto the declineof quail in the Location n success (%) monitoring predators(%) Reference Southeast fromfire ants range Illinois 863 34 Nest searching 37 Roseberryand Klimstra(1975) (Solenopsis spp.) to acid rain Florida 601 36 Nest searching 64 Stoddard(1931) (Brennan1999). However,there Florida 51 45 Telemetry 89 DeVosand Mueller(1993) also is ampleevidence that bob- Georgia 1,725 18 Nest searching - Simpson(1976) white populationsin some areas Missouri 157 44 Telemetry 68 Burgeret al. (1995b) of the Southeastare being main- NorthCarolina 35 34 Telemetry 73 Puckettet al. (1995) Oklahoma 161 50 76 et al. tainedat densities, Telemetry Peoples (1996) high espe- Tennessee 766 23 Nest search - Dimmick(1974) in the cially plantationregions Texas(north) 34 12 Nest search 88 Jackson(1947) of southernGeorgia
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