Texas researchers study stirs interest in translocating quail

Translocation is nothing new to the toolbox of strategies used in wildlife management. Experts have relied on the technique for years to help restore native wildlife populations of different kinds, cultivate new ones or to supplement those that already exist. It’s a laborious task that has worked with everything from black bears to gray wolves and giraffes.

Wild turkeys, whitetailed deer and bighorn sheep represent three of Texas’ greatest wildlife translocation stories. Research scientists with the Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation and Tarleton State University are hopeful that northern bobwhite quail might one day join the list.

Founded in 2006, the RPQRF is a nonprofit outfit centered on preserving Texas’ rich quail hunting heritage. The organization has conducted all sorts of intensive research projects aimed at benefiting the iconic game birds that continue to struggle across much of their native range. Bass Pros Shops, Park Cities Quail and other Texas Quail Coalition chapters are among the generous supporters of those efforts.

RPQRF has been heavily involved in several translocation projects involving bobwhite and scaled quail dating back to 2013. Those projects, along with others carried out by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas A&M University AgriLife Extension Service and Texas A&M-Commerce, have met with mixed levels of success.

RPQRF Executive Director Dale Rollins has heard the bells of optimism ring many times before. The music is particularly sweet these days at the 2,200-acre Quahadi Ranch in Erath County near Stephenville, where month-old quail broods are roaming landscape in numbers not seen in a very long time.

The Central Texas ranch is owned by Steve and Joan Smith. The couple has worked hard to improve the habitat while stepping up predator control over the last few years. It’s hardly a Garden of Eden, but as quail habitat goes, it’s an island rich with opportunity.

The property is the site of a multi-year translocation study built around wild-trapped bobwhite quail provided by several ranches in South and West Texas.

The main goals of the permitted scientific study are to demonstrate that translocation is a viable option for bolstering wild quail numbers and creating a sustainable population where habitat is sufficient and to create a blueprint other Texas landowners around the state, including those in East Texas, can use to duplicate the effort down the road.

“We’re building data to say we believe translocation can work in Texas like it has in other states,” Rollins said. “It may not work in every situation, but there are situations where it will.”

The tactic has been used with great success in several southeastern states including Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas. As such, translocation is a subject that is grabbing lots of attention with quail hunters and property owners, alike.

“It’s a pretty hot topic nationally right now,” Rollins said.

Currently in its second year, the RPQRF research effort in Erath County appears to be showing a wealth of promise following the release of 236 birds this spring.

The March release included 46 West Texas bobwhites and 190 South Texas birds. The birds were transported to the property within 24 hours of capture and held in surrogators to acclimate at strategic locations for 1-2 weeks before release. Nearly half (110) were equipped with nickel-sized transmitters that allow researchers to track their movements using high-tech telemetry gear.

Tarleton State graduate student John Palarski is doing his thesis on the project. He spends 4-11 hours daily on the property monitoring movements, documenting nesting activity and gathering other pertinent data. The boots-to-the-ground research indicates the transplants are enjoying their Central Texas lifestyle.

As of June 15, Palarski had documented 34 different nests and about 50% nesting success — well above the 30-35% average. He has seen several healthy broods on a piece of property that had only a handful of quail when the study began.

“The main key in translocation is that the birds survive and that they reproduce,” he said. “So far we’re seeing both. We’ve got well over 200 chicks on the around already. It’s really encouraging. The nesting success has been exceptional and most of the birds are staying close. Some of the nests are within a stone’s throw from where they were released.”

With a hot summer setting in, Palarski is doing a rain dance to spur an uptick in insects to keep chicks growing and hens healthy enough to make second nesting attempts.

“We need a good soaking,” he said. “One hen can potentially produce 20-30 chicks in a summer. You can see a boom pretty quick if you’ve got that happening with a bunch of birds.”

Rollins is equally encouraged by the numbers, but he is hesitant to call the study a success just yet. A student of quail for decades, the scientist has seen healthy quail populations take sudden dives before, sometimes for no apparent reason.

“We’re hesitant to crow too loud about it for fear that the wheels might fall off, but right now it’s looking really good,” Rollins said. “Fifty percent nesting success is definitely worth writing about. It’s been a 180-degree improvement over the bust we saw last year.”

Scientists had high hopes when the study first launched in April 2019. Sadly, Mother Nature had other ideas. A cold front passed through the region about a week after 167 birds were released, bringing several days of cold rain and chilly temperatures.

Palarski said more than half of the original study birds died within a month. He found whole carcasses that had lost 1/3 of their released body weight. He said the carcasses were evaluated by some the country’s best diagnostic labs with inconclusive results.

“We don’t know if was a freak weather pattern, disease or a combination of the two,” he said. “We were unable to recover after that. It really set us back. We only saw nine nests last year.”

It’s way too early in the game to say whether or not researchers have found the magical formula that might one day result in a sustainable wild quail population on the Quahadi Ranch and other islands of suitable habitat. But the foundation has been laid with plans to build on it in spring 2021.

Time will ultimately tell the tale of the translocation tape.