Everyone knows quail populations are falling across the U.S.
Texas is trying to reverse this trend. In this video you can learn a bit about what they’re doing to help these little gamebirds.
Check it out. There’s lot of great footage of all types of quail plus prairie chickens and other game.
Here’s something I’m dying to do, and with quail numbers up, I think it’s time for me to head west and check it out. I’ve never hunted quail — wild or pen raised. From this video, the experience looks awesome. The video was produced by the Quail Coalition. They did a great job.
Texas used to be the last stronghold of wild bobwhite quail – especially the western part of the start. Unfortunately, it looks like the bird’s numbers are falling there just like they’re falling throughout the US. Sporting Classic Daily posted this video about one group trying to turn things around for Gentleman Bob.
Operation Idiopathic Decline is the largest disease and parasite study every done on quail. It’s trying to figure out why west Texas’s quail population is collapsing, and they’re trying to find a way to stop this decline.
The Lesser prairie-chicken is a bird that’s in trouble. Like a lot of wild game, it used to be prevalent throughout the American great plains. But in the last 150 years, Lesser prairie-chicken populations have fallen by approximately 92%.
Today, the bird’s numbers are still crashing and now the Lesser prairie-chicken is only found in pockets of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. To stabilize the bird’s population and save the species, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has proposed listing the Lesser prairie-chicken as Threatened.
But according to this piece in The Denver Post, the Governor’s of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas are saying no way. Why? Because a Threatened listing may jeopardize energy projects and farming practices in those states.
Instead, these Governors believe that their state’s own conservation efforts, along with “commitments” from industry leaders and landowners, will be enough to save these birds (yeah, right).
To find out more about this issue, visit the Lesser Prairie-Chicken Resource Center.
Here’s an interesting video from Willow Creek Kennels that shows a pair of GSPs working with a chocolate Lab. Pretty cool.
Here’s a little video about how drought and habit loss is impacting  bobwhite quail populations in Texas. Not too cheery. I hope it starts to rain. almost as much as I hope people stop ruining quail habitat.
