Quail vs Turkey in Kansas

Why Do Quail Populations Go Down As Turkey Populations Rise?

April 23, 2009.

From the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks:

Kansas spring turkey season is in full swing, and many hunters are enjoying the abundance of this large game bird. Other hunters who enjoy turkey hunting but also like to quail hunt may be wondering why turkey populations have surged in recent years while quail populations have declined in much of the state.

Jim Pitman, small game biologist for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP), has some answers.

"Some hunters have speculated that because turkey populations are on the rise and quail are in decline in the same areas of the state, then turkeys must be eating quail or competing with them for resources," Pitman says.

"They assume turkeys are having a negative impact on quail. In reality, both populations have been influenced by a large-scale landscape conversion that has occurred over several decades."

Pitman explains that wildlife biologists have been studying both quail and turkeys intensely for more than 75 years and have never documented a single occurrence of a turkey eating a young quail.

"It is a common rumor that turkeys have been shot with quail in their crops, but no biologist has ever seen a specimen or a photograph," he says. "Another problem with this claim is that most quail hatch in late June or early July, well after the turkey season has closed. It would be highly unlikely that a legally-harvested turkey would have a quail chick in its crop even if the phenomenon was known to occur. The main factor contributing to declining quail populations and increasing turkey populations is a landscape conversion from grasslands and shrubs to woodlands."

Satellite images confirm this. Woodland habitat increased 23 percent in eastern Kansas from 1984 to 2000, and if the 1950s landscape were compared to the present landscape, the woodland increase would have been much greater. This landscape transformation occurred throughout Kansas but has been most severe in the Flint Hills and eastward. The additional trees have improved habitat for many woodland species such as turkeys, deer, and squirrels, but these changes have degraded habitat for grassland species like quail.

"Large trees are required by turkeys for roosting, and as woodlands have matured and expanded into the prairie, more areas have become suitable for turkeys," says Pitman. "These trees have shaded out low-growing bunch-grasses and shrubs required by quail for nesting and protective cover. Additional woodland has also benefited quail predators such as hawks, owls, raccoons, and opossums. Other factors have contributed to quail decline, but more trees in the landscape has had the greatest negative impact."

This does not mean that good quail hunting can't be found in Kansas. In the past few years, quail numbers have increased in portions of central Kansas, from north to south. So turkey hunters should enjoy the opportunity to bag multiple turkeys this spring, as well as in the fall. And plan a fall quail hunt, as well.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

Good read 

ORIGINAL: treetop

Good read and it makes sense

Very good info, thanks Neptune.

Kraig Osborne
Hunter since birth, NAHCLM, USN

Good info, thanks for sharing. I can't count the number of times I've been told that turkeys eat young quail. I never thought that was the case, but try to convince someone that has that mind set then beat your head against that hardwood shadowing the forest floor. Hopefully landowners and foresters will get it figured out and change the way they do things. I love the forested areas, that's where I hunt deer and turkey, but I also love to hunt upland birds as much and it's really discouraging not finding numbers of birds large enough to shoot any and it's really not fair to the dog.

Your'e welcome fella's. I try to keep up on all hunting and fishing news in the US and post things that are relevant on this site....

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."