Pennsylvania Game News - January 2017 - 31

were documented on Gull Point in 2015, all of which failed, and in 2016 two
pairs appeared to complete incubation. No young were seen - apparently, predators got them again. A beach is a tough place to raise a family. But the team was
encouraged with small steps forward, and by a male piping plover seen for much
of June. Work will continue next year to monitor and assist with the restoration
of this unique community, at the northwestern corner of Pennsylvania.
Dan Brauning, Wildlife Diversity Section Supervisor
Focusing In: Have you ever attempted to find a bird in your binoculars and your
eyes, expecting to more closely and clearly see the object, only to see a blur of
color? Thank heavens for the built-in adjustments. Once dialed in, objects at any
distance are clear and crisp. Focus is very important in wildlife management, and
even more so when considering where to look for suitable locations to restore
northern bobwhite quail populations. Bobwhites are considered habitat-dependent,
and this is obvious over their range, although bobwhite habitat in Georgia looks
different than in Kansas. So how do we determine what habitat looks like in
Pennsylvania when we've lost our wild population? Looking at historical research
is extremely helpful, but so is familiarizing yourself with a quail's basic needs.
Quail habitat needs can be broken into three groups: nesting cover, brood cover,
and "headquarters." Nesting cover consists of "clump" or "bunch" warm-season
grasses. They can't become too thick. A hen will nest
in the base of a clump, hidden from predators. Brood
cover can vary, but is best represented by a diversity
of native forbs and disturbed soil. Ground-level
vegetation - what a chick sees - should not exceed
50 percent, facilitating easy movement of young. The
forbs provide overhead concealment, a rich supply of
food-attracting insects during summer months and they
disburse seeds from fall into the winter. Headquarters, or
more specifically, shrubby areas with open undergrowth,
provide cover that lasts through the winter. These three
components must be found together and in agreeable
amounts and distribution to provide effective quail
cover. Since 1966, bobwhites have shown dramatic
declines on Breeding Bird Survey routes in Pennsylvania with average annual declines of 17 percent between
1970 and 1980, after which they have been too scarce to
monitor. Concurrent with population decline, range contractions resulted in a statistically significant 68 percent reduction in
occupied blocks between the first and second atlases of Pennsylvania
Breeding Birds. That loss, in farmland alone, exceeded 1.4 million
acres. With some success in this undertaking, it's possible that
one day we might bring back the bobwhite's whistle to at least
some of Pennsylvania's farmland.
- Tom Keller and Scott Klinger, Game Birds Section Biologists
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Pennsylvania Game News - January 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - January 2017