Index of Species Information
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Colinus virginianus
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| Photo by Jeff Vanuga, USDA NRCS, Bugwood.org. |
Introductory
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Colinus virginianus
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Snyder, S. A. 1991. Colinus virginianus. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/animals/bird/covi/all.html [].
ABBREVIATION :
COVI
COMMON NAMES :
northern bobwhite
bobwhite quail
bobwhite
quail
colin
partridge
Virginia partridge
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name for northern bobwhite is Colinus
virginianus Linnaeus. There are seven subspecies in North America
[7,26]:
Colinus virginianus subsp. floridanus (Coues)
Colinus virginianus subsp. marilandicus (Linnaeus)
Colinus virginianus subsp. mexicanus (Linnaeus)
Colinus virginianus subsp. ridgwayi Brewster
Colinus virginianus subsp. taylori Lincoln
Colinus virginianus subsp. texanus (Lawrence)
Colinus virginianus subsp. virginianus
ORDER :
Galliformes
CLASS :
Bird
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
The masked bobwhite quail, subspecies ridgwayi, is listed as Endangered
throughout its range [19].
OTHER STATUS :
Information on state- and province-level protection status of animals in the
United States and Canada is available at NatureServe, although recent
changes in status may not be included.
WILDLIFE DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Colinus virginianus
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
The northern bobwhite's range extends from southern Maine and Ontario
south to Florida and west to the eastern fringes of Wyoming, Colorado,
and New Mexico. Isolated populations inhabit eastern Washington,
western Idaho, and northwestern Oregon [2,7]. Populations of northern
bobwhite have been introduced to parts of Hawaii and southern British
Columbia [12]. Ranges of individual subspecies are listed below [7].
C. v. subsp. marilandicus - from southwestern Maine through central
Virginia
C. v. subsp. mexicanus - eastern United States from the Atlantic Seaboard
to the Midwest
C. v. subsp. virginianus - from Virginia south to northern Florida and
southeast Alabama
C. v. subsp. floridanus - south peninsular Florida
C. v. subsp. taylori - from South Dakota to northern Texas and east to
western Missouri and northwestern Arkansas
C. v. subsp. texanus - southwestern Texas south into Mexico
C. v. subsp. ridgwayi - extreme south-central Arizona into Mexico
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES10 White-red-jack pine
FRES12 Longleaf-slash pine
FRES13 Loblolly-shortleaf pine
FRES14 Oak-pine
FRES15 Oak-hickory
FRES16 Oak-gum-cypress
FRES18 Maple-beech-birch
FRES31 Shinnery
FRES32 Texas savanna
FRES33 Southwestern shrubsteppe
FRES34 Chaparral-mountain shrub
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES39 Prairie
FRES41 Wet grasslands
STATES :
| AL |
AZ |
AR |
CO |
CT |
DC |
DE |
FL |
GA |
HI |
| ID |
IL |
IN |
IA |
KS |
KY |
LA |
MD |
MA |
MI |
| MN |
MS |
MO |
MT |
NE |
NH |
NJ |
NM |
NY |
NC |
| OH |
OK |
OR |
PA |
RI |
SC |
SD |
TN |
TX |
UT |
| VT |
VA |
WA |
WV |
WI |
WY |
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
7 Lower Basin and Range
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
14 Great Plains
16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K026 Oregon oakwoods
K027 Mesquite bosque
K031 Oak - juniper woodlands
K039 Blackbrush
K043 Paloverde - cactus shrub
K054 Grama - tobosa prairie
K058 Grama - tobosa shrubsteppe
K059 Trans-Pecos shrub savanna
K060 Mesquite savanna
K061 Mesquite - acacia savanna
K062 Mesquite - live oak savanna
K065 Grama - buffalograss
K069 Bluestem - grama prairie
K071 Shinnery
K073 Northern cordgrass prairie
K074 Bluestem prairie
K076 Blackland prairie
K077 Bluestem - sacahuista prairie
K078 Southern cordgrass prairie
K079 Palmetto prairie
K080 Marl - everglades
K081 Oak savanna
K082 Mosaic of K074 and K100
K083 Cedar glades
K084 Cross Timbers
K085 Mesquite - buffalograss
K086 Juniper - oak savanna
K087 Mesquite - oak savanna
K088 Fayette prairie
K089 Black Belt
K090 Live oak - sea oats
K091 Cypress savanna
K092 Everglades
K100 Oak - hickory forest
K101 Elm - ash forest
K110 Northeastern oak - pine forest
K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
K112 Southern mixed forest
K113 Southern floodplain forest
K114 Pocosin
K115 Sand pine scrub
K116 Subtropical pine forest
SAF COVER TYPES :
1 Jack pine
15 Red pine
21 Eastern white pine
40 Post oak - blackjack oak
43 Bear oak
57 Yellow-poplar
63 Cottonwood
64 Sassafras - persimmon
65 Pin oak - sweet gum
67 Mohrs ("shin") oak
68 Mesquite
69 Sand pine
70 Longleaf pine
71 Longleaf pine - scrub oak
72 Southern scrub oak
74 Cabbage palmetto
75 Shortleaf pine
76 Shortleaf pine - oak
78 Virginia pine - oak
79 Virginia pine
80 Loblolly pine - shortleaf pine
81 Loblolly pine
82 Loblolly pine - hardwood
83 Longleaf pine - slash pine
84 Slash pine
85 Slash pine - hardwood
87 Sweet gum - yellow poplar
89 Live oak
92 Sweetgum - willow oak
97 Atlantic white-cedar
104 Sweetbay - swamp tupelo - redbay
109 Hawthorn
111 South Florida slash pine
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Northern bobwhite primarily inhabit hardwood forests of the eastern
United States and pine (Pinus spp.) forests of the South. They also
inhabit grasslands, and in the Southwest, shrubby savannahs [2,16].
BIOLOGICAL DATA AND HABITAT REQUIREMENTS
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Colinus virginianus
TIMING OF MAJOR LIFE HISTORY EVENTS :
Mating Season - April through June in the South, but can be as early as
February and March; begins a few weeks later in the
North.
Clutch - 14 to 16 eggs, usually laid 15 to 18 days after mating;
incubation period is 23 days; two females may lay eggs
in one nest; may lay subsequent clutches if others fail.
Fledge - 14 days, but juveniles remain with adults for about 50 days.
Lifespan - up to 10 years [8,11,15,16].
 |
| Northern bobwhite nest. Photo by James Solomon, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org. |
PREFERRED HABITAT :
Northern bobwhite prefer open hardwood forests and southern pine
forests, as well as grasslands, pastures, meadows, and agricultural land
with shrubby cover. Northern bobwhite tend to avoid areas with dense
tree and shrub cover [2,10,16]. In a Texas study, however, northern
bobwhite selected dense herbaceaous cover and selected areas with grass
cover as opposed to bare ground [20]. In the Southwest, bobwhite quail
may select mesquite canyons with pricklypear cactus (Opuntia spp.)
cover in the summer and open woodlands in the winter [2]. Nest sites
are usually found near woodland openings where ground cover is not too
thick [15]. In Arizona, masked bobwhite quail select areas with 75
percent to 100 percent ground cover near edges of mesquite and
grassland/forb communities [6].
COVER REQUIREMENTS :
Northern bobwhite need brushy cover for hiding and resting, but cover
should be open enough to allow the birds to move about and see
predators. In the Southwest, a mature mesquite, paloverde (Cercidium
spp.), and wolfberry (Lycium spp.) overstory with lovegrass (Eragrositis
spp.) and gramma grass (Bouteloua spp.) in the understory provides ample
cover for masked bobwhite quail [6]. Mesquite mixed with pricklypear
cactus and sumac (Rhus spp.) also provides good cover [10]. Cover
should be 100 to 200 yards (91.4-182.8 m) apart and 3 to 10 yards
(2.7-9.1 m) in diameter [10].
Northern bobwhite nest in shallow depressions on the ground in areas
where density of grasses and forbs is moderate [2,15]. A mix of
cropland, woodland, and pasture that provides essential foods is ideal
[15]. Northern bobwhite roost in coveys (formations of birds in a
circle) in thick vegetation during winter [16].
FOOD HABITS :
Northern bobwhite eat primarily seeds, fruits, and insects, as well as
new plant growth in the spring [2]. They tend to eat a larger amount
and greater variety of legume (Leguminosae) seeds than seeds from any
other plant family, except in southern Florida and the West [15]. Some
food plants include oak, pine, and sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
mast, mesquite, bayberry (Myrica cerifera), persimmon (Diospyros spp.),
redbay (Persea borbonia), flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), partridge
pea (Cassia spp.), lespedeza (Lespedeza spp.), milkpea (Galactia spp.),
gallberry (Ilex spp.), skunk daisy (Ximenesia encelioides), plum (Prunus
spp.), grape (Vitis spp.),, hackberry (Celtis spp.), panicgrass (Panicum
spp.), and clover (Trifolium spp.). Quail also consume cowpeas (Vigna
spp.), corn (Zea mays), sorghum (Sorghum spp.), and other cultivated
small grains, but these grains are usually gleaned from fields after
harvest; quail seldom damage growing crops. Insects eaten by northern
bobwhite include mosquitoes, beetles (Coleoptera), grasshoppers
(Orthoptera), and ants (Hymenoptera) [2,3,10,13,15,16].
PREDATORS :
Predators of adult northern bobwhite include hawks and eagles
(Accipitridae), falcons (Falconidae), foxes (Vulpes, Urocyon), bobcat
(Lynx rufus), and domestic cats (Felis sylvestris) and dogs (Canis
domesticus). Predators of chicks and eggs include weasels and skunks
(Mustelidae), raccoons (Procyon lotor), Virginia opossum (Didelphis
virginiana), snakes (Coluber spp.; Elaphe spp.), crows and ravens
(Corvus spp.), rats (Ratus norvegicus), and squirrels and chipmunks
(Sciuridae) [8,11,16].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Good northern bobwhite habitat requires good interspersion of food
species and cover that is not too dense. Good habitat can support about
one bird per acre (2.5/ha) [11]. In a habitat improvement experiment in
Florida, pine forests were cleared and subterranean clover (Trifolium
subterraneum) planted to encourage the establishment of arthropods, an
important food for chicks [14]. Habitat management programs in Illinois
included planting food patches and a combination of prescribed burning
and sharecropping. Food patch plantings generally failed to be of any
long-term value. Areas that were sharecropped and burned during winter
and spring at 2-year intervals produced more quail than areas planted
with food patches or areas that were sharecropped but not burned [3].
Rosene [15] recommended managing forests on an uneven-aged rotation
basis, and thinning after 20 years to maintain an open canopy. He also
suggested creating parklike woodlands in the South with high open
canopies and a thin, spotty pattern of shrubs in the understory. For
woodlands in the northern fringes of northern bobwhite range, it is best
to maintain groups of conifers with low growing limbs as insulation
against severe weather.
FIRE EFFECTS AND USE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Colinus virginianus
DIRECT FIRE EFFECTS ON ANIMALS :
Fires during the nesting season may destroy nest eggs and young chicks
[22].
HABITAT RELATED FIRE EFFECTS :
Prescribed burning has been deemed one of the most effective means of
stimulating and controlling vegetation for improvement of northern
bobwhite habitat [15]. Prescribed fires in the pine forests of Alabama
increased the number of legume species and improved these species'
quality, which caused an increase in quail numbers [21]. Burning in
these habitats after March, however, can kill lespedeza, an important
food, as well as destroy nesting cover [22]. Frequent fires that do not
allow regeneration of adequate nesting cover may also be detrimental to
quail.
Pine-oak types in Georgia were burned each year for 3 years to determine
the effects of fire on northern bobwhite nesting success [23]. Sites
were burned in late March and early April. The most preferred nesting
sites were those areas left unburned for 1 year. Those burned in the
current spring were least preferred. Lotebush, the primary cover for
bobwhite quail in the Texas Rolling Plains, increased in response to
prescribed burning. Shrubs, however, did not fully recover and become
useful to quail until the 5th or 6th postfire year.
FIRE USE :
Prescribed burning can improve and increase food species, clear dense
vegetation, provide more forest openings, and encourage early seral
types that provide cover [3,11,18]. Fire is a frequently used
management tool for northern bobwhite habitat improvement in the South
[15]. Here, late winter or fall burning is recommended over spring and
summer burning [11,21,22]. Burning between mid-February and the end of
March can make available seeds that are buried below the duff layer.
Insects begin to emerge after March in the South, and late-spring fires
could kill this food source, as well as consume seeds, important to
northern bobwhite [15]. Other evidence suggests that spring or summer
fires may increase food plants, including some legumes and Desmodium
spp. [25]. Prescribed burning should only be employed if, after
determining quail population limiting factors, fire can improve those
limiting factors [22]. Renwald and others [24] make recommendations for
burning in mesquite types to ensure adequate bobwhite quail cover.
FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
REFERENCES
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Colinus virginianus
REFERENCES :
1. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
[434]
2. DeGraaf, Richard M.; Scott, Virgil E.; Hamre, R. H.; [and others]. 1991.
Forest and rangeland birds of the United States: Natural history and
habitat use. Agric. Handb. 688. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 625 p. [15856]
3. Ellis, Jack A.; Edwards, William R.; Thomas, Keith P. 1969. Responses of
bobwhites to management in Illinois. Journal of Wildlife Management.
33(4): 749-762. [16070]
4. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
5. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
6. Furlow, John J. 1987. The Carpinus caroliniana complex in North America.
I. A multivariate analysis of geographical variation. Systematic Botany.
12(1): 21-40. [16197]
7. Johnsgard, Paul A. 1988. The quails, partridges, and francolins of the
world. New York: Oxford University Press. 264 p. [16199]
8. Klimstra, W. D.; Roseberry, John L. 1975. Nesting ecology of the
bobwhite in southern Illinois. Wildlife Monographs No. 41. Washington,
DC: The Wildlife Society. 37 p. [16189]
9. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. United States [Potential natural vegetation of the
conterminous United States]. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 1:3,168,000; colored. [3455]
10. Lehmann, Valgene W.; Ward, Herbert. 1941. Some plants valuable to quail
in southwestern Texas. Journal of Wildlife Management. 5(2): 131-135.
[12227]
11. Murray, Robert W.; Frye, O. E., Jr. 1957. The bobwhite quail and its
management in Florida. Tallahassee, FL: Florida Game and Freshwater Fish
Commission. 56 p. [16198]
12. Peterson, Roger Tory. 1961. A field guide to western birds. 2d ed.
Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co. 309 p. [15917]
13. Reid, Vincent H.; Goodrum, Phil D. 1979. Winter feeding habits of quail
in longleaf-slash pine habitat. Special Scientific Rep. Wildlife No.
220. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife
Service. 39 p. [16196]
14. Ribbeck, Kenneth F.; Johnson, Mark K.; Dancak, Ken. 1987. Subterranean
clover on southern pine range: potential benefits to game. Journal of
Range Management. 40(2): 116-118. [16191]
15. Rosene, Water. 1969. The bobwhite quail: its life and management. New
Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. 418 p. [16192]
16. Terres, John K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American
birds. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1109 p. [16195]
17. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southwest Region. 1983.
Masked bobwhite quail: species range map. Albuquerque, NM: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Region 3, State and Private
Forestry. 1 p. [16201]
18. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1979. Habitat
management for bobwhite quail. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, Region 6. 4 p. [16200]
19. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. 2016.
Endangered Species Program, [Online]. Available: http://www.fws.gov/endangered/.
[86564]
20. Wilson, Marcia Hammerquist; Crawford, John A. 1987. Habitat selection by
Texas bobwhites and chestnut-bellied scaled quail in south Texas.
Journal of Wildlife Management. 51(3): 575-582. [16190]
21. Speak, Dan W. 1967. Effects of controlled burning on bobwhite quail
populations and habitat of an experimental area in the Alabama piedmont.
In: Webb, James W., ed. Proceedings, 20th southeastern association of
game and fish commissioners; 1966 October 24-26; Asheville, NC.
Columbia, SC: [Publisher unknown]. 19-32. [16193]
22. Rosene, Walter, Jr. 1954. The use of fire in quail management. In:
Proceedings, 8th southeastern association of game and fish
commissioners; 1954 November 1-2; New Orleans, LA. [Place of publication
unknown]: [Publisher unknown]: 9-11. [16194]
23. Simpson, Ronald C. 1972. Relationship of postburn intervals to the
incidence and success of bobwhite nesting in southwest Georgia. In:
Proceedings, 1st national bobwhite quail symposium; [Date of conference
unknown]; Stillwater, OK. [Place of publication unknown]. [Publisher
unknown]. 150-158. [16208]
24. Renwald, J. David; Wright, Henry A.; Flinders, Jerran T. 1978. Effect of
prescribed fire on bobwhite quail habitat in the rolling plains of
Texas. Journal of Range Management. 31(1): 65-69. [16079]
25. Landers, J. Larry. 1981. The role of fire in bobwhite quail management.
In: Wood, Gene W., ed. Prescribed fire and wildlife in southern forests:
Proceedings of a symposium; 1981 April 6-8; Myrtle Beach, SC.
Georgetown, SC: Clemson University, Belle W. Baruch Forest Science
Institute: 73-80. [14812]
26. Donohoe, Robert W. 1974. American hornbeam Carpinus caroliniana Walt.
In: Gill, John D.; Healy, William M., eds. Shrubs and vines for
northeastern wildlife. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-9. Upper Darby, PA: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest
Experiment Station: 86-88. [13714]
FEIS Home Page
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/animals/bird/covi/all.html
