Other Ways to Have More Quail

EDITOR'S NOTE: Tall Timbers researchers also evaluated quail survival on areas treated with an imazapyr-based herbicide to ensure that the herbicide had no adverse effects on birds.

The biologists monitored the movements of radio-collared quail before and after the application of a herbicide in October. The herbicide application did not drive quail away because no radio-tagged imazapyr-treated quail left their regular courses.

Too, the quail survived at no different rate on the treated and untreated courses, although the quail on the treated courses had a smaller home-range size than the quail in the untreated areas, suggesting an improvement in habitat on treated areas. During hunting season, coveys seen per hour increased on both areas over the previous season.

"Imazapyr works by affecting an enzyme system that is present only in plants and not found in wildlife, people fish or insects," Miller explains. "So we're confident that when used according to label directions, imazapyr poses no risk or danger to wildlife."

Landowners and hunting clubs can apply herbicides and will find them very effective in areas where they no longer can use fire because of ecological, social, political and/or legal considerations. Herbicides can replace the benefits of burning lands by setting back hardwood growth and allowing weeds and grasses to grow. However, quail habitat also needs some form of ground disturbance like fire, harrowing or the dragging of something across the ground to stimulate weed growth.

You can spot-treat sweetgums, one of the fastest-growing, least-useful hardwoods in most southern forests, in 5- to 10-acre plots with Arsenal to get rid of this low-quality hardwood/brush and increase the native wild plant populations that will improve habitat for quail. But always get the landowner's permission before you use any herbicides on forest lands.

You'll find sweetgums virtually impossible to get rid of with fire if no one has managed that sweetgum habitat for three years. Fire will top-kill the sweetgums, but the root system will continue to grow. If you burn an area or cut down the sweetgums and don't treat the stumps or the land with a herbicide, each year you'll have more sweetgum stems than you had the year before. You may have to cut big sweetgums down with a chainsaw and spray the stumps with Arsenal Stump Spray to kill the root system.

Tomorrow: Other Places to Learn About Quail Management Programs