Our yard in New Mexico is just over an acre of largely undisturbed desert, pretty thickly covered with creosote, prickly pear, yucca, a little mesquite, etc. We are blessed with a small population of Gambels quail, even though we're in the middle of a neighborhood, and I'm interested in developing our landscape in ways that will benefit these wonderful birds. We currently feed with wild bird seed mix and also plain milo, and shallow platters of water. However, lots of the seed gets eaten by white-wing dove and about three billion sparrows that also live here. (I have read the other thread on sparrows, and will probably buy one of those repeating traps...if I can work up my courage about the disposal part.)
First, am I correct that planting the right native plants and grasses might be a better way to help the quail, since it might allow us to stop putting out seed that makes the sparrow population explode?
Second, does anyone have recommendations for which plants, or other ways to improve the habitat? The Texas Parks and Wildlife website mentions that the best Gambels habitat has a mixture of mesquite, Apache plume, catclaw, and four-wing saltbush. Any comments or additional ideas? I want to do whatever I can, they are so beautiful!
How to improve my yard for Gambels quail?
Although I have no familiarity with these organizations, you might want to start your quest by reading information at a few of these sites-
http://www.quailforever.org/
http://www.qu.org/
http://www.cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_l/l-304.html
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_rp_w7000_1025.pdf#search='Quail%20habitat'
It has been my experience with organizations such as these that there are people who will take the time to try to help you. Contacting them may be difficult but persistency generally pays off.
This is the organization that I believe will be the most help to you. You might want to consider joining them. Native Plant Societies have a tendency of taking care of "their own"-
Native Plant Society of New Mexico
P.O. Box 5917, Santa Fe, NM 87502-5917
Tel: 505-454-0683
npsnm.unm.edu/
E-mail:whitmore@nmha.campuscw.net
http://npsnm.unm.edu/
Audubon has some of the most progressive members and habitat restoration is a focus, you might want to check out if there is a chapter in your area that you could join-
http://www.audubon.org/
Regarding these comments,
First, am I correct that planting the right native plants and grasses might be a better way to help the quail, since it might allow us to stop putting out seed that makes the sparrow population explode?
When trying to locate information on plants, try to use the Latin name of the plant you have growing in your yard or would like to grow in your yard-
-Creosote (Larrea tridentata ?)
-Prickly Pear (Opuntia spp.) Too many native and non-native species out there so you will probably have to go to our Identification Forum to get help figuring out which ones you have
-Yucca (Yucca spp.) another one where there are many native and non-native species and you may need help determinning if you Yucca is native or imported from Central America or the West Indies.
-Apache plume (Fallugia paradoxa)
-Catclaw (Mimosa pigra or hopefully you were referring to Acacia greggii)
four-wing saltbush (Atriplex canescens)
-Mesquite, these are a few common native Mesquites- Honey Mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa), Screwbean Mesquite (Prosopis pubescens ) and Velvet Mesquite (Prosopis velutina). And there are a few that are introduced from Iraq and Syria that are lumped into the category of Mediterranean Mesquite. The Mediterranean Mesquite you probably wouldn't want.
Really sorry I can't be of more help other than plucking information from the net for you to lend a hand out but I'm in the Midwest and our life forms are so very different from yours.
Equilibrium, thanks so much for your excellent info. I will follow up those leads. Some of the info I found on the net was more geared to helping people with large acreage to improve the habitat for bobwhite quail, but I'm thinking I must not be the only person with a regular sized yard that wants to do my part to help the Gambels here. I'll also post any good info I find back to this thread, in case other quail fans find it helpful.
The house we own now belonged to my parents for many years, and it's been surrounded by new housing developments. They watched the quail population decline as the desert diminished in the immediate area, and I guess that's unavoidable. Still, I'd like to keep this largish lot as a haven for those who remain. We've only been here a few months, and I suspect you're right, there may be local clubs or nurseries that will be willing to give us some good info.
From my reading elsewhere, Gambels need open ground to scurry across; they prefer to walk instead of flying, and they don't like thick grass since it slows them down. They also need overhead cover. A few older yards in my neighborhood still have bare sandy soil with creosote (it is Larrea tridentata) which I think is a pretty good quail cover, but most of the newer yards are either solid grass or solid gravel. I suspect that a lot of the non-native plants used for landscaping around here don't have great food value either. So, I'd like to add to the birdie buffet.
Meanwhile back to quail watching. These guys apparently lay fewer eggs in tough times, and this dry spring is not bringing out lots of babies. We have only seen quail couples with single chicks so far. As opposed to the stupid house sparrows, who seem to be having a banner year. Argh.
A big ol 'hearty' welcome to DG, to ya .. oldmudhouse!!
For some 'hands on' knowledge and experience - I'll bet, that one of our fellow 'gal' members, may would/could be of some wonderful aid to you, also. Her user name is angele. Here's the link to her member home page > http://davesgarden.com/members/angele/
Take a look at some of her threads, etc. .. and/or send her a DGmail. I'm sure she'd luv to hear from you.
- Magpye
Oh my gosh, thank you Magpye for pointing out that oldmudhouse is a new member here. Yes yes yes, a big hearty welcome to oldmudhouse from me to. I'm looking forward to any photos you are in a position to share.
Lauren
Thanks!! Angele was kind enough to say howdy on the Welcome Mat thread. I will drop her a note.
I do need to dust off the camera. These little quail guys are pretty smart and very wary, but I'll get out my old decrepit Sony Mavica and see what happens. I missed a great opportunity to take some pictures of a pair of great horned owls that raised chicks in the back of our local Lowe's garden dept. I did go to visit them often, but didn't take the camera. What was I thinking?
I'm so pleased to have finally signed up with DG. Knew about you folks for years but told myself I couldn't spare the time since we had our own business. It is very kind of you all to wait around here for me!!
Sheri
Hi Sheri!
a pair of great horned owls that raised chicks in the back of our local Lowe's garden dept. I did go to visit them often, but didn't take the camera. What was I thinking?
Hmmm. Is it OK to hijack my own thread and go from quail to owls? The owls have left Lowes but we do see great horned owls flying over our yard at twilight.
I was wandering around the plants when I heard a lady exclaim to her friend, "there's an owl back on the pavers!" Of course, I followed. It was about a foot tall, sitting there about 3' off the ground, on a stack of concrete pavers. I have never seen a Great Horned up close, so I wasn't sure what it was. Huge eyes, huge claws, very sharp beak, a little fuzz. Didn't seem normal for him to be just sitting there, so I found an employee (somebody do something!)
She was calm. "Oh, they threw out the baby again?" Holy cow...that giant bird is a BABY? It was. Looking up, there were the huge parents, each with their two feathered horn tufts waving majestically in the breeze. The Lowes folks apparently knew about the family, and this "chick" was being repeatedly rejected by the parents. Lowes was on top of it, and had already contacted a wild bird rehab person who was coming to collect it. I was glad to see they were willing to let the family stay there to raise the chicks...I would imagine a Great Horned Owl family would really mess up a bunch of garden merchandise. Shop at Lowes.
Anyway, back to quail... (feebly trying to repair damage to her own thread.)
Where was your camera woman! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeek, I thought these things only happened to me. I think I would have driven home to get my camera or driven to another store to buy one if I had seen a baby like that get pushed out of the nest at my feet.
If they go back to that spot to nest next year, look around the ground for owl pellets. Owl pellets are the greatest. They're like little boxes of Cracker Jacks because each one contains another little
Hijacking, doesn't bother me but it does bother some. I'm pro hijacking because you learn so darn much.
How lucky for you, sheri. You have some great birds in your area. I love owls, but seldom see one at all. I do see various hawks, but the only one I can identify truly is the swamp hawk (not a hawk at all, but a harrier). They are around here, patrolling the fields for prey. I have also seen turkey buzzards fairly close. One small hawk includes my yard in her territory, and whizzes through now and then, intent on one of the smaller birds. The yard clears out in seconds! BAM
BAM, please send your hawks to deal with my sparrows!
I’m still researching, but here’s the quail habitat info I’ve gathered so far, using some of the links Equilibrium provided. If I post anything that isn’t correct, I hope the real birders will let me know.
I haven’t found much specific only to Gambels quail so far, but I think most of this habitat info would apply to any type of quail. Also, Latin plant names are generally not listed in the articles I found…more research needed.
Quail, like turkey, eat on the ground. They eat mainly seed, but will also eat some greens and some insects. They certainly can fly, but often prefer to run, so bare ground is essential for them to move quickly. They’re very good at living on little water. We keep a shallow water dish for them in our yard, and they do use it, but not frequently. It needs to be shallow, because quail chicks can drown in a dish they can’t escape from. They mate for life, and apparently don’t range over a huge area during their lifetime. They nest on the ground.
The life motto of quail life is apparently “hide, hide, hide.” They need cover, cover, cover. The best quail habitat has a good variety of different kinds of cover. First, woody cover, or fairly tall plants that are dense above. This provides protection from predators above, like hawks. The ideal woody cover also needs to have bare ground underneath, so they can escape quickly from ground predators. Some examples given of woody cover were thickets of plum, sumac, sandsage, yaupon, wildgrape, granjeno, brasil, yucca, and taller forms of prickly pear. (I would think large clumps of mesquite, cresote, and desert willow would also qualify.) Gambels seem to be especially fond of dense woody cover.
Second, quail need ground cover for nesting. These seem to be largely perennial warm season bunch grasses. The bunchgrasses used for nesting are roughly the diameter of a basketball, and over 8” tall. Some grasses mentioned were Little Bluestem, Switchgrass, and Tobosa. Gambels don’t seem to require as much bunchgrass as some other quail types.
Third, quail need to have screening cover. Quail chicks especially need an overstory of weeds and grasses to hide from predators. This overhead screen can be a mix of bunchgrasses and broadleaf weeds. Plants mentioned were croton, ragweed, sunflower, broomweed, and partridge pea. (I’m sure there are others depending on your region.) Again, the idea seems to be dense clumps of these plants, so they make an overhead canopy, with bare ground underneath (for fast getaways.)
The best quail habitat is a mixture of these cover types; the worst habitat for quail would be a big flat field of dense grass. Grasses like bermudagrass and bahiagrass aren’t beneficial for nesting purposes, and neither are the solid landscape gravel yards that are so often used here in the southwest. I think the quail in our neighborhood do visit these yards successfully for food (we see them scooting across the streets all the time) but they also need some areas within their range that are less cultivated, with the dense and varied vegetation they need to nest and raise chicks.
That’s it so far. I’ll keep digging…
Instead of putting out seed which attracts nuisance birds, try putting out half an apple or orange. Our quail love these. Other native birds too. sam
very interesting about the habitat for the quail... thanks for posting your findings.
Thanks Sam. We will try the fruit. My husband has been putting out apple cores, but we'll try to be more generous!
I have decided to take down our hanging bird feeders for now, to come to grips with our house sparrow overpopulation problem. I'm putting red milo on the ground for the quail, especially in the brushy areas they like to hang out in. I've read that southwestern ground-feeding birds are among the few that prefer milo to other seeds. Thrashers also like milo, and we enjoy watching them too. The dratted sparrows will probably still be in there competing for it, but it may be a small step in the right direction.
You are welcome joepyeweed! I hope this info is helpfull...at least it'll be there for folks who search the forum for quail info.
I'm looking at specific plants I can add. Acacia species look to be beneficial for quail in general, for seed and for cover. Whitethorn acacia (acacia constricta) and Catclaw acacia (acacia greggii) may be good candidates. They are thorny and unfriendly to bare ankles, but I suppose that is the definition for good protection...
Say OMH, have you any photos to share of what you've got going on over there?
Sure, I will try to post some pics later today.
Edited later to add: new thread with pictures has been posted here:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/616193/
This message was edited Jun 17, 2006 6:42 PM
Oldmudhouse, the plants that you picked - did you choose according to what is native or xeric?
I am in similar situation, I posted in poultry livestock forum for similar help. I however plan on doing the landscaping then building a chicken tractor/ coop with run and buying quail online I was hoping to get some "bigger tougher" bird at the same time for a little "big brother" protection from cats in neighborhood.http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/694731/
Hi MQN,
The plants I'm adding are both native and xeric, because I can't really keep much else alive. The part of the yard I leave for the quail is pure desert, and so far DH has not extended water lines there, so I'm carrying water to get the plants established. I am trying to mainly pick Chihuahuan desert plants since that fits our area, and I look for things that mention seeds beneficial for birds. I have only added small shrubs and a few trees so far; I really want to do my homework before I introduce any grasses, to be sure I don't plant something I'll regret later.
I wonder if your county extension agent would have any recommendations for good quail plants for your area?
So far I have not lost any plants, and after another summer of hauling water jugs I'll think they'll be OK. To be honest, I really don't think my small additions have helped the quail much so far...native plants are so scraggly and slow! And now they look like piles of dead winter sticks. But in time I guess they will help, and I'll add more. Meanwhile we supplement with milo and the quail usually show up morning and late afternoon for a snack. (We call it feeding the chickens.)
I read your other thread and I can sympathize with the predator problem. Our quail here seem to be super timid, which is smart since we live spang in the middle of a subdivision, and the cards are really stacked against them. Plus, since I started this thread last year, another neighbor has completely removed all the native Creosote bush from their yard. So that's one less yard the quail will be scooting around in, since the protective cover is gone. Pooey! I have figured out that around here adding native plants is fine, but it's probably even more important not to remove the beneficial natives already in place (unfortunately, some folks don't like the look of the scrubby natives as much as I do.) :-(
I don't have any advice about adding protector birds as you mentioned, but it's an interesting idea. I wonder if that would work? I would love to have a big mean hissing goose to chase away hunting cats. We have a German Shepherd who tries, but he's old and sleepy, so not the best guard. Our neighborhood cats have no problem getting past our chain link fence; I did catch and return one cat to a neighbor a few weeks ago, but he's already been back since...so much for that idea!
I hope you have good luck with your project!
Sheri
"Big Mean Hissing Goose" exactly what I thought, I had a girlfriend when I was a teenager that had one scared the bee jeezes out of me every time I would visit her house. I am leaning towards goose because I truly believe it can hold its own against the cat & teach him some respect LOL
So I am off to talk to the OFFICIALS that be to see if I can - local ordinances and all.
Thanks for the input. I found your thread with pictures, I love the natural look myself so natural backyard "organized" front yard. Utah is #2 for lowest amount of rainfall in the states. Xeric, native, edible or wildlife freindly are my greatest concerns.