I am sending this on behalf of fellow DNR Biologist, Bob Long, DNR Upland Game Bird Biologist
Mr. Biechele and others,
As I read the series of emails related to the plight of the bobwhite on your listserve, I am both disappointed and encouraged. As the DNR wildlife biologist responsible for managing this great bird, along with other species, I am disappointed at the amount of misinformation floating around about quail as well as the distrust in the people managing our natural resources. On the other hand, I am encouraged that so many citizens are still concerned about quail. If more people had the passion and enthusiasm that many of you seem to have, I doubt we be in the predicament that we are today. I also feel compelled to try to articulate our position and rationale behind our decisions. Let me do my best to answer some of questions and respond to your concerns...
The DNR is very familiar with the decline of bobwhite. BBS data suggests quail have declined more than 5% per year since 1966. The main factor causing the decline - not only in MD but across the entire eastern US - is habitat loss due to changing agricultural practices, forest maturation, and development. Diseases, herbicides, pen-raised quail, predators, hunting, turkeys, deer..the list goes on - they have all been blamed for the quail decline but no research has ever backed the theories with substantial evidence. The loss of habitat is pronounced in Maryland, especially if you look at the landscape as a whole and not focus on individual farms. Brushy hedgerows, thick woodlots, and fallow fields have largely been replaced with vast intensively-managed crop fields, mature woods, or housing developments. Any quail that are left are forced into smaller and more fragmented pieces of habitat. Predators can hunt more efficiently in small areas and the necessary genetic exchange between groups of quail gets cut off. As a result, quail have declined - and many other species that depend on grassland and shrubland habitats have also declined. Look at the species suffering the greatest rates of decline in MD based on the Breeding Bird Survey - the top 7 species are pheasant, grasshopper sparrow, vesper sparrow, meadowlark, bobwhite, field sparrow, and prairie warbler...all declining at over 4% per year. How many of those do you regularly observe in mature forest, crop fields, or surburbia? We know it is a habitat problem but the real question remains - how do you reverse or even stabilize the habitat loss? This is a question that I, along with many quail biologists across the country wrestle with day in and day out and I will not bore you with details....but record-high grain prices, outrageous land values, and a large public sentiment that thinks conservation = preservation = no management...well it is not a good combination for getting landowners to establish quail habitat. This brings up the question that many of you have echoed- "why do we allow hunting of quail?" The answer is simple - hunting of quail was never the cause of the decline and likely never will be. I will not get into the concept of "compensatory mortality" or the "doomed-surplus" theory or the idea that hunting is self-regulating (hunters hunt where quail are abundant and where they have a high chance for success). But nearly all studies suggest that hunting is not a significant source of mortality on bobwhites. However, on the surface it may make sense to prohibit hunting of declining quail populations and therefore many states in New England and the Mid-Atlantic region, including MD, have restricted or closed hunting seasons in response. Quail were abundant in all of those states at one time but the season closures did not help the situation. Our season is closed in Allegany and Garrett counties; PA's season is closed in the Southeastern region that borders MD. Are there any more quail in those counties? No, in fact there are few if any quail left. History has shown that eliminating hunting only serves to eliminate any incentive that is left to create habitat for this great bird...think of it as the "final nail in the coffin." I have dealt with landowners on an almost daily basis for the last 7 years and can tell you that the majority of private lands that still have good numbers of quail have them for a reason...they either hunt quail or retain the hope that someday they will be able to hunt quail. Without that incentive, their lands would be just like the other 99% of farms in the state...maximizing profits on crops or selling out to developers. Whether we like it or not, the majority of landowners will only do something on their land if it directly benefits them. If quail are no longer listed as a game species, they will be clumped into that large group of rare or declining species that the public largely does not know about or has no interest in. How many farmers do you know that manage habitat for grasshopper sparrows or rare butterflies? I will end with an example some of you may be familiar with - Chino Farms (or Bluestem farms as I believe it is now called) in Queen Annes/Kent counties is widely known as a grassland songbird "mecca"...although I am not aware of all the details, I do know that grasshopper sparrows and dickcissels and are studied there and apparently found in high densities. Thousands of acres grassland and shrubland habitat, sparse savanna-like forests, and hedgerows provides ideal habitat. However the impetus to create this songbird haven initially was the landowner's passion for quail and quail hunting. Habitat management for quail not only yielded some of the highest densities of quail in the region but also produced tremendous benefits for a vast array of other species. It is truly a case of hunters giving back more than they take. I know of many other properties, though maybe not as large and well-known as Chino, but where a similar motivation - to grow more quail - has created superb wildife habitat. If I thought that hunting of quail had any negative impacts on quail populations in MD I can assure you that I would not hesitate to shut the season down. But until there is evidence that it will help the species recover, I think that we should use the interest in the species, whether consumptive or not, to encourage the creation and management of grassland and shrubland habitats...these habitats are really what are endangered. Unless they are returned to the landscape in sufficient quantities, quail will only be the first of many bird species to disappear from Maryland. That is something that both hunters and anti-hunters should agree upon and work cooperatively to change.
If anyone has any further questions or comments, please feel free to contact me directly:
Bob Long
Wild Turkey and Upland Gamebird Project Manager
Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources
Wildlife and Heritage Service
828B Airpax Rd., Suite 500
Cambridge, MD 21613
410-221-8838, ext. 106
-----Original Message-----
From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of lance biechele
Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2008 10:43 AM
To:
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Fw: Bobwhite quail
Folks, here is my letter to DNR --
--- On Mon, 9/29/08, lance biechele <> wrote:
From: lance biechele <>
Subject: Bobwhite quail
To:
Date: Monday, September 29, 2008, 11:45 PM
Hi Bob,
Mark Hoffman suggested that I write you concerning the interest
of many birders here on the Lower Shore of Maryland.
For almost ten years, the bobwhite populations have continued
to crash and the present statsitics furnished by Sam Droege show an
average of 5.5% yearly reduction in quail numbers in the State of MD.
So, my questions are two-fold.
(1) Was DNR aware of the decline of this species in the state and
what efforts were made to find a cause for this alarming decline?
(2) Why. then, has the State of MD allowed an open season on this
species for hunting [Nov 1 - February 14th] (E of Rte 95).
I would greatly appreciate why DNR has FAILED to take better corrective
action to protect this species in MD.
Thank you for your kind attention to this inquiry.
Sincerely,
Lance T. Biechele
Princess Anne, MD
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