A while back, I had a poll on food plots. The survey question asked what’s your favorite type of food plot to plant for bobwhites.

The results are in, and there was a tie between milo and forage sorghum for the most popular food crops. I don’t think there was any election fraud or hanging chats. I hoped no one voted twice or let their bird dog vote.

Here are the results for favorite bobwhite food plots:

• 16 votes forage sorghum
• 16 votes milo
• 7 votes millet
• 1 vote corn
• 1 vote soybean
• 1 vote sunflower

I thought the clear winner would have been milo with forage sorghum coming in a distant second. Either way, both are excellent choices for bobwhites. I often mix the two together to get the best of both crops.

Forage sorghum grows 6 to 9 feet tall (picture below) and does well in a variety of soil types. Forage sorghum will lodge over in the the winter. The jumbled mess of stems is excellent cover and food for rabbits, quail and pheasants. Forage sorghum will last well into late winter and is an excellent emergency food source after heavy snow or ice. Egyptian wheat is very similar to forage sorghum and tends to stay upright during the winter. Forage sorghum will not produce as much seed as milo, but more than makes up for it by providing excellent winter cover and a late winter food source. I recommend forage sorghum in areas with high deer populations. Deer will devour milo seedheads in the doughy stage, but not forage sorghum.

The other top food plot crop was milo (picture below). Grain sorghum (milo) produces large seedheads and does well in a variety of soil types. The only real downfall for milo is deer relish the seedheads during the dough stage. I’ve seen small milo food plots striped clean by deer. To outsmart deer, try mixing forage sorghum and milo together to get the best of both crops. The taller forage sorghum will help hide the larger milo seedheads (at least in theory). They still seem to find some of it.

I was surprised to see millet in third place. Maybe that’s because I prefer milo and forage sorghum over millet. Generally, millets are good seed producers and are easy to establish. Millets can be broadcasted into July and still mature before the first frost (most varieties mature in 90 days). Whether it is proso, pearl, German or brown top, millet provides good brooding cover and food for bobwhites.

I thought sunflowers would get a few more votes since I frequently find coveys next to sunflower fields. I usually see coveys next to sunflower fields in the summer and early fall. I think quail like sunflower fields in the summer for loafing cover and brooding cover if left weedy. If left unmowed, sunflower plots can provide a good food source for bobwhites, pheasants and other wildlife. However, most sunflower fields are planted for dove hunting so by early August the fields are mowed or disked, leaving little food or cover for bobwhites. Any seed left on the ground will germinate in September leaving little food for the long winter ahead. Sunflower fields managed for doves are usually sprayed with herbicides a few times to control weeds (annual seedy plants) and to keep the fields “clean”. A weedy food plot is better for quail, but not for doves. If you want sunflowers for doves then be happy with providing some brooding and loafing cover for bobwhites in July and August. If you want the sunflower field to benefit bobwhites consider reducing the number of herbicide treatments and/or disk only the interior of the field while leaving a 30 to 60 foot strip of unmowed sunflowers around the edge.

I wasn’t surprised to see corn near the bottom of the list for bobwhite food plots. Generally, corn can only be grown in fertile soils and must be drilled with a planter. Most other grains can be broadcasted. Corn has high fertility requirements, especially compared to other food plot crops. Corn is a very good food and cover source for a variety of wildlife, especially deer and turkey and that might be one reason why corn wasn’t too popular on the quail food plot poll. I’ve learned over the years that corn food plots must be at least 1 acre in size to feed all the deer, turkey, squirrels and raccoons. On the plus side, corn is a high energy source and provides excellent cover for bobwhites. I like to plant corn in a succotash food plot (glyphosate resistant corn and soybeans mixed together). I normally idle the plot the second year. In fact, last year’s corn/soybean food plot on our farm still has quite a bit of corn left (picture below). I’ll leave this plot idle until next year to provide ideal brooding cover this summer.

Also at the bottom was soybeans. Soybeans are relished by most wildlife and that might be their downfall as a quail food plot. Small soybean plots are quickly overbrowsed by deer, groundhogs and rabbits. Experience has taught me that soybean food plots should be planted in large blocks and must be at least 1 acre (sometimes even large). Generally, we recommend long, linear food plots for bobwhites and that usually doesn’t work for soybean plots. Another problem with soybeans is the seeds often shatter on the ground and are inaccessible to quail after a heavy snow or ice storm. Soybeans aren’t my favorite food plot for quail, but I usually plant some each year. Cowpeas are similar to soybeans. Cowpeas are often planted in the southeast United States for deer browse or as a grain plot for bobwhites. Soybeans do well in a variety of soil types and don’t require much fertility. Quail will use soybean food plots for summer brooding cover and for roosting cover if left weedy (few herbicide treatments). I’ve shot a lot of quail out of weedy soybean food plots and in unharvested soybean fields. That’s one reason why I still plant beans.

Thanks to those who voted for their favorite food plot. I don’t think we need a recount or special election. Take a look at my new poll on what’s your favorite type of covey headquarters.

Take a look at some of my older blogs on food plots and the University of Tennessee Extension publication on food plots. All 168 pages are full of great information on food plots and so much more.

The Pros and Cons to Food Plots – Think Outside the Food Plot!
What else you should consider before planting food plots.

Flip Flop That Food Plot
Sometimes the best food plot hasn’t been planted.

Food Plot Management
Good information on when and where to plant food plots.

Habitat is the Key!

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The Northern bobwhite quail has declined in Missouri since the mid-1950s, by more than seventy percent in the last thirty years. The long-term decline resulted from changes in land management. The landscape has changed from a patchwork of small farms with small fields, brushy areas and open woodlands to fewer, larger farms with larger fields, clean fencerows and dense forests. Other factors leading to declining habitat quality are the increased use of densely-growing cool-season pasture grasses and the chemical control of insect and plant pests.

Quail need patchy habitats with a mix of bare ground and more dense cover, along with seed-bearing plants and insects. They must have suitable areas for nest sites and brood-rearing and cover to protect the birds from predators. Without suitable habitat available, the quail’s plight is made worse by extended periods of winter ice and snow. Unusually wet periods during spring and early summer, such as we had last year, also take a toll on young quail chicks.

Quail nesting in Missouri should be in full swing right now. After a 23-day incubation period for the eggs, young quail will be hatching later in May. The newly hatched chicks can easily succumb to exposure from frequent rains and cool temperatures. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for some warm and drier conditions during late May and June. We’ll need good habitat and a little luck with the weather to see good numbers of quail chicks fledged this year.

Today there are multiple efforts underway to reverse the long decline in the quail population. Quail respond well to certain habitat management practices . These practices are increasingly being implemented on public and private property in Missouri. “Habitat is the Key” is the slogan for the growing body of information on restoring quail populations. What we do to improve quail populations will, at the same time, help a host of other ground-nesting Missouri birds that share the same needs as quail.

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This weekend is perfect for stepping outside with a pair of binoculars and your ears wide open to catch sight and sound of some colorful birds on their way north. You’ll be amazed at the variety of life out there once you start looking for it.

I’ll be birding Saturday on an annual warbler walk where I live, but you don’t have to be in the country to see some wonderful things. Places to go in Missouri are listed on a variety of websites:  http://www.mobirds.org/mbrc/MOChecklist.asp, http://www.camacdonald.com/birding/usmissouri.htm, http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/birds/emobirds/birding.htm. If you live near Cape Girardeau, they’re having a migratory bird day celebration on Saturday May 2 at the Conservation Nature Center there.

You’ve heard that the early bird gets the worm…well, the early birder gets the birds. They’re especially active in singing at dawn (known as the dawn chorus), but continue until later mid-morining. By mid-day, the birds quiet down so you’re not as likely to hear them call, which also makes it harder to find them. Bird listening is really the key to good birding. If you know the habitat they live in, and you know their calls, you’ll be much more sucessful at finding the birds.

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Quail Unlimited Private Land Radio Collar Project
Bill White, Private Land Program Supervisor, Jefferson City, MO

In 2008, the Missouri Department of Conservation teamed up with Quail Unlimited to conduct a radio collar project on three private land sites in central and western Missouri. Funding for the project was provided by Quail Unlimited. Radio receivers and antenna were provided by MDC. Quail were captured in areas where Farm Bill conservation program practices were installed in an attempt to observe quail use of those practices. After capture, birds were located by radio receiver at least one time per week.

ANDREW COUNTY

The Andrew County study site is a 160 acre native warm-season grass CRP planting managed specifically for quail with food plots, prescribed burning, shrub plantings and light disking. There were 9 known coveys on the farm and 11 birds were radio-collared from this site. Several birds had hatched in mid- September. The first birds were trapped in October, 2008. Radio tracking is being conducted by volunteer students from Missouri Western State University. Observations from the site include:

• All birds were trapped in plum thickets even though traps were located in grass cover and edge feathering.
• No useable shrubby cover is present in the majority of the field, especially in the center. During the winter observations, birds were only observed in association with woody cover along the perimeter of the site and bare ground. Birds did not use the center of the field and at any time were found within 50 yards of woody cover. The map below is a great example of how one collared quail stayed close to woody cover throughout most of the winter.
• Birds frequently exchanged between coveys during the winter months.
• In one observation instance birds moved on foot ahead of the tracker and did not flush for ¼ mile.

CASS COUNTY

The Cass County site is a mixture of CP33 associated with edge feathering and older CRP native warm-season grass plantings. Seven birds were trapped in and adjacent to edge feathering. The first birds were trapped in December, 2008. Radio tracking is being done by Quail Unlimited volunteers. Observations from the site include:

• All bird observations are within 25 yards of wooded fence lines or edge feathering. When weather is bad (snow or ice storms) the birds move into edge feathering as a front approaches and stay til weather moderates.
• Birds also frequently exchange between coveys during the winter months.
• Tracker reports birds commonly running ahead and never flushing. In one instance, tracker stood next to a hidden bird for several minutes before it flushed. In another instance, tracker reported that hunters with bird dogs passed over two coveys that had been located just minutes earlier in the CRP field.

OSAGE COUNTY

The Osage County site is an EQIP woodland restoration site and 11 acres of fescue conversion. The site is surrounded by unmanaged woodland and fescue pasture and hayland. Five birds were captured in mid-November and 4 of those birds had hatched in mid-September. All birds were captured in shrubby understory of the restored woodland. Trapping birds was suspended when house cats were found checking traps daily. Radio tracking is being done by a Quail Academy graduate and Quail Unlimited volunteer. Observations from this site include:

• 60% of flushes were from woodland, downed tree structures or shrubby cover.
• 40% of flushes were from a fescue conversion dominated by wildflowers. All documented winter roost sites were in wildflowers.
• Birds were visually observed to be feeding or gathering grit from a gravel lane located between the woodland and wildflower field on two occasions during midday.
• 100% of escape locations were associated with the woodland.
• Only one occurrence of bird use of fescue was observed. At all other times, birds avoided fescue. All birds were found within 25 yards of woodland shrubby cover during winter months.

Aaron’s Editorial

So what can we learn from this project? The research was right. Quail depend on good shrubby cover and lots of bare ground. Create these types of habitats and they will use them. If you ignore shrubby, nesting or brooding cover and the birds may not use the area or have a larger home range. Quail will also go to great lengths to avoid predators including hunters and they quickly wise up to hunters. Birds frequently shuffle from covey to covey. Some coveys have a very small home range while others like to explore. Once again collared birds have backed what research has told us for years – quail like bare ground (disturbed areas) and lots of low growing woody cover. I’ll keep you posted if there’s any new information.

Habitat is the Key!

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Last Saturday my dog Lizzy and I were multi-tasking. We went to a Missouri river bottom conservation area to get exercise, scout for turkeys, look for early morel mushrooms and look for shed deer antlers. Our accomplishment was that we did get plenty of exercise. Lizzy is a bird dog and she went on point in a band of cottonwoods near the river levee. As I approached, a woodcock flushed and began doing the crippled bird routine. It worked great on Lizzy as she followed it away from the site, eventually flushing it several more times.

I saw the spot where it had initially flushed and peered at the area to see if I could spot any eggs. Eventually my eyes focused on a young woodcock that was motionless on the leaf litter. As I picked it up and examined it, three of its siblings fluttered off from a few feet away. They were well-feathered and could fly several feet at a time. The one that I examined had some crumbs of dirt on its beak from probing the moist soil for worms or insects. I was surprised to find young birds so well-developed before mid-April; but American woodcock, also called timberdoodles, are among the earliest species to migrate back north. They return to Missouri in February: a co-worker of mine found one incubating eggs on its nest this year in mid-March.

Timberdoodles spend the winter in lowland areas of the Gulf Coast States. According to the Woodcock Management Plan , overall numbers of woodcock have been declining since the 1960s. The decline is thought to be the result of loss of young forest habitats. Mature forests do not provide the brushy areas that are ideal for the species. Management is aimed at creating openings in mature forests to provide the brushy habitat needed for nesting and feeding. I hope that the four young birds that I saw will be able to escape predators for the rest of this spring and summer and make the flight south this fall.

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Someone just commented to this blog about not seeing as many whippoorwills as usual. That fits with what’s happening to about a third of the 800 species of birds in the U.S. that are declining, threatened or endangered.

Last week John Hoskins, Missouri Dept. of Conservation Director, spoke alongside Interior Secretary Ken Salazar as he announced our nation’s first “State of the Birds Report.” I was in Washington D.C., as was the Director, at a meeting of fish and wildlife agencies at the time. The report certainly was discussed at the meeting, but it’s important to everyone—not just biologists.

The bad news is that loss of habitat and invasive species are taking a toll. It’s especially bad in Hawaii. The good news is that some kinds of birds, such as ducks, have shown that they can thrive if people work to ensure good places for them to live, nest and feed. The idea that ‘if you build it, they will come’ holds true for birds as well as people. For birds, though, the ‘building’ is creating healthy habitat.  Fortunately, having clean water and healthy forests and fields is good for people as well as birds.

In Missouri, we have some big successes such as wild turkeys that were brought back from low numbers to a thriving population. But we also have just a few prairie chickens remaining where thousands once lived. It’s going to take all sorts of people—conservation agency staff, landowners, communities, nonprofit groups—to see what they can do locally for the birds where they live. At the same time, we need to work with other countries north and south of us where some “Missouri” birds live part of the year.

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Having dense grass isn’t very smart if you want quail. To improve grasslands and old fields for bobwhites consider strip disking part of the field each year. Strip or light disking reduces residue, creates bare ground, and promotes desirable broadleaf plants that produce seed and attract insects, at a much lower cost than planting food plots. To be effective, complete light disking in grassland habitats next to areas of usable shrubby cover such as covey headquarters, downed tree structures, edge feathering or native shrub thickets.

I prefer strip disking in the fall, but early spring disking will work too. Fall disking promotes annual seed producing plants like ragweed and lespedeza. Spring disking can sometimes result in annual foxtail and crabgrass – still good quail habitat, but ragweed and annual lespedeza provide better structural habitat and food for bobwhites.

Always disk with the contour. Disked strips should be 25 to 75 feet wide with equally as wide undisked areas in between. Disk a third of the field each year. In future years disk the undisked areas (see diagram below). Don’t be gentle either. Go over the strips two or three times to really work up the ground. On CRP fields always check with your local USDA Service Center on mid-contract management dates and how much ground can be worked up each year.

In rank grass fields I like to first burn the field and then strip disk part of the field. The combination of two disturbances really setbacks the grass. Last weekend, I strip disked part of our CP-33 field border. We burned parts of the buffer in January so I went back and strip disked these parts of the buffer. I also like to disk around covey headquarters, brush piles and downed tree structures before burning to protect these areas from prescribed fire and to break up the plant structure in the field. One more hint. I rarely disk straight lines across the field. The disked strips meander across the field. Believe it or not, strip disking can be fun and is a great way to improve quail habitat on your property.

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There’s no doubt about it. Quail habitat is good for most other wildlife. Creating good nesting, brooding and shrubby cover for bobwhites can also provide good habitat for songbirds, rabbit, wild turkey and white-tailed deer. Even if your hunting place is big timber, grassland, or crop fields managing for bobwhites on all or part of your farm is a great way to enhance deer and turkey hunting on your property. Here are a couple ideas on how to manage for Bob, Tom and Buck.

Plant Native Warm-Season Grass

Waist high native grass (shown below) provides excellent habitat for wild turkey and quail. Native grass fields next to timbered areas provide excellent nesting cover and recently burned or disturbed fields provide good strutting areas. I often find a few turkey nests each year in native grass fields.

White-tailed deer will use native grass fields for fawning and winter bedding. Think about it. The grass is brown. The deer is brown. The grass is at least waist high. What a great place to hide. How many deer do you see in native grass fields during the hunting season? There’s a reason their out there.
Edge Feather Field Edges

Edge feathering is great for quail and rabbits. This practice can also be used to funnel deer or turkey to your favorite hunting spot. A couple years ago during the youth turkey season I took my nephew hunting. We hunted a field edge that was edge feathered. Nothing could walk through the edge feathering so we sat up at the very end of the edge feathering. That morning we had several deer walk by and finally a bunch of turkeys. The turkeys couldn’t walk through the edge feathering so they just walked around it. Right to where we were waiting.

Woodland Restoration

Overstocked woodlands are a hidden gem for woodland wildlife including bobwhite quail and wild turkey. Woodland restoration involves thinning out undesirable trees (opening up the canopy) and eventually re-introducing prescribed fire. The combination of fire and sun promotes the growth of native grasses, wild flowers and native legumes – food and cover for quail and turkey. The downed trees look rather messy, but this mess of trees provide ideal nesting cover for wild turkey. A couple years later you won’t even notice the downed trees.

Open up the Timber

I don’t recommend managing exclusively for bobwhites on big patches of timber. Big timber is and never will be good quail habitat. Instead incorporate quail friendly practices such as timber stand improvement, temporary forest openings and old field renovation into your wildlife management plan. You might never see a bobwhite on your place, but I guarantee you’ll improve habitat for deer and turkey.

Most oak hickory forest in Missouri are overstocked with trees. Thinning out undesirable and less productive trees (a.k.a. Forest Stand Improvement) will improve tree growth and stimulate the growth of young trees, shrubs and native legumes on the forest floor. The flush of new growth provides excellent deer browse and brooding cover for turkeys (see picture below).

Fifty years ago there were numerous small fields throughout Missouri’s landscape. Over time, these fields have been abandoned. Today, these “old fields” are choked full of undesirable trees such as locust, hedge, elm and eastern red cedar. Consider rejuvenating these old fields by clearing or cutting out the undesirable trees. You can use a chainsaw (the hard way), bulldozer, bullhog, or tree clipper. Plant the cleared area to a food plot or native grasses or letting the field grow up in seedy plants. Disturb the field every few years with disking or burning to stimulate even more seedy plants. The rejuvenated field will provide good browse for deer and an excellent strutting area for turkey.

On south or west facing slopes I like to establish 1/4 to 2 acre temporary forest openings. Before starting, make sure you work with a biologist or forester to pick out a suitable site. It may sound drastic but all you need to do is cut down all the trees. Yep, cut them all down or at least most of them. You can use the cut trees for firewood or just leave them. You can save a couple nice oaks or soft mast trees for food sources, but cut everything else down. Over the next five to ten years the opening will grow up in tree saplings, shrubs and herbaceous plants. These food and cover meccas are great places to deer hunt. Turkeys like forest openings too. The abundance of new sprouts and overhead cover provide ideal nesting and brooding cover.

The Proof is in the Picture

The past couple years I’ve been helping a friend with managing his farm for quail. We’ve planted native warm-season grasses, edge feathered, restored woodlands, cleared old fields and created forest openings. Quail have returned and the deer and turkey hunting has never been better!

Habitat is the Key!

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One of my favorite websites to visit each spring shows a map of the spring return of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds to the eastern United States. Observers submit records of sightings of the hummers and each is mapped as a dot with the observation date. You can watch the dots spread into the U.S. from southern Texas in late February to southern Missouri by late March. As I look at the latest map today, there are several reports from central Missouri, ranging in time from March 27 to April 1. Surprisingly, a few birds reached the Chicago vicinity as quickly as others reached mid-Missouri, after surging northward through Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. It makes me wonder why the rush to reach that area. The migration will eventually reach southern Canada, where the northernmost nesting occurs.

Even though the hummingbirds have already been sighted in mid-Missouri, where I am located; I have yet to see one. It is usually a couple of more weeks after the first arrivals before I see my first hummer. I’m sure the majority of the birds lag behind those earliest travelers documented by dots on the map. My personal first observation usually happens when my red buckeye is in flower in my backyard. That shrub’s long, red, tubular flowers contain nectar that always attracts the hummers. They also visit the red and yellow blooms of columbine that blooms at about the same time. Both plants are now a couple of weeks shy of flowering, by my estimation.

As I sit in my office on a cool, gray day when spring’s progress seems to be temporarily on hold; it is reassuring to view the map of an ongoing natural migration that has occurred in thousands of springs before this one. It’s an important reminder that the old forces are still at work in the natural world, following cues that we have missed amid the thousand distractions of daily life.

Here are a few fun facts about the Ruby-throated Hummingbird:

The only hummingbird species that nests in Missouri.

Our smallest bird; its nest is the size of a walnut.

It can lose up to half of its body weight during its non-stop migration flight across the Gulf of Mexico.

It can reach flight speeds of up to 60 m.p.h.

Most will have left Missouri by late September to return to wintering grounds in Central America.

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