—continued
will result in the conversion of nearly 65 million
acres to urban uses nationwide. A significant
portion of this will occur throughout the bobwhite's
range. Clearly, circumstances call for
immediate and dramatic action.
Other Bird Species'
are in Trouble Too
Species other than bobwhite quail that utilize
habitats similar are also declining at an alarming rate. For example, the
loggerhead shrike and bobwhite quail have strikingly similar population
trends (Figure 2). The loggerhead shrike, along with an entire guild of
songbirds that share the bobwhite's grass,weed and shrubland habitats, is
declining at a similar rate as bobwhites. Aside from their similar habitat
preferences, these two birds have distinctly different characteristics. The
bobwhite is an omnivore, feeding primarily on seeds and insects; is a prey
species; is social for most of the year, associating with other quail in coveys;
is a ground-nester; and is a hunted species. The shrike is a carnivore,
a predator feeding on small mammals, birds, reptiles and insects; is solitary;
nests in shrubs and trees; and is not hunted.Their basic similarity is
their choice of habitat, which is declining and resulting in population
declines of each species.
The Goal for the NBCI
The goal for the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative plan is to
restore northern bobwhite populations rangewide to an average density
equivalent to that which existed on improvable acres in the baseline year
of 1980. The SEAFWA directors endorsed the selection of the 1980 population
density as the goal for restoring northern bobwhites. The following
considerations influencing the choice of 1980 by the SEQSG were: 1) population
densities and hunting opportunities were significantly greater in
1980 than exist today; 2) the current landscape, if properly managed,
would support densities equivalent to those existing in 1980; 3) important
data bases utilized in this Initiative have comparable beginning points on
or near 1980. The specific charge was to identify the types and amounts of
habitats and habitat management efforts needed to achieve this goal.
Bird Conservation
Region Planning Units
To maximize the odds of long-term success in recovering bobwhites, it
was essential to design a plan that would be compatible and could be integrated
with other national bird conservation efforts. The planning team
thus adopted the North American Bird Conservation Initiative's (NABCI)
Bird Conservation Regions, or BCRs, as the regional planning units
(Figure 3).
The portion of the range of the northern bobwhite in the United
States included in the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative occupies
all or part of 15 Bird Conservation Regions and 22 states (Figure 2).
The bobwhite plan consists of separate chapters for each of 15 BCRs that
cover the bobwhite's core range. While
some BCRs—such as Peninsular Florida
and the Edwards Plateau in Texas—are
encompassed within the bounds of a single
state, others—such as the Southeastern
Coastal Plain and the Central
Hardwoods—cover portions of as many as
10 states.
Habitat Objectives
The Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative is a habitat-based plan.
Specific habitat improvement goals and objectives are identified for each
BCR and that portion of each state within the BCR. These habitat objectives
include:
1. Increase the amount and enhance the quality of the agricultural
lands for nesting, brood-rearing, and roosting by bobwhites and other
grassland species of wildlife by adding native warm-season grasses and
other conservation plantings such as shrubs and forbs.
2.Enhance the management practices on pinelands and mixed pinehardwoods
by thinning, controlled burning and site preparation in a fashion
that benefits bobwhites and other wildlife, and increase acreage
devoted to longleaf pine where it is ecologically feasible.
3. Preserve and enhance the quality of rangelands by utilizing vegetation
management practices and grazing regimes that favor the retention
and improvement of native plant communities beneficial to bobwhites
and other wildlife.
Habitat Assumptions
Projecting the habitat improvements needed to accomplish the restoration
of bobwhites required developing assumptions about quail biology and
demographics,delineating the current status of land use and habitat characteristics
and applying this information to develop an effective management
strategy.
Probably the most basic and important assumption of the NBCI is
that the major limiting factor over most of the bobwhite's range is a lack
of suitable nesting and brood-rearing habitat. Certainly, numerous other
factors affect quail abundance to varying degrees.Yet, the overwhelming
consensus among quail biologists is that the number one limiting factor
across the Southeast is nesting and brood-rearing habitat. In the western
portions of the bobwhite's range, this factor becomes less limiting; consequently,
quail populations there have declined less severely.
The lack of nesting and brood-rearing habitat is a result of the longterm
practice of replacing native warm-season grasses with exotic coolseason
and warm-season grasses, and of completely eliminating nesting
habitat in intensive cropland and dense pine forests. Properly managed
native warm-season grasses with an adequate component of forbs provide
good to excellent nesting and brood-rearing habitat. Although we use the
term "native warm-season grasses," in some areas this could also include
certain native cool-season grasses, or a natural, volunteer stand of mixed
