Bobwhite Quail Reenter Keystone State After Over 25 years
The NWTF is a proud partner in a multi-year habitat project that is the headspring of quail restoration in Pennsylvania. The project serves as a bright reminder that the NWTF's work for wild turkeys benefits entire ecosystem health.
Once found in all 67 Pennsylvania counties, the northern bobwhite quail population dwindled to zero in the state by the late 1990s or early 2000s. That is, until last week, when Pennsylvania Game Commission staff and partners translocated dozens of wild northern bobwhite quail from Florida, Kentucky and Virginia as part of an aggressive effort to reestablish a reproducing population of birds within the boundaries of the Keystone State.
After a 2014 PGC survey confirmed that there were, indeed, no wild quail within the commonwealth's boundaries, discussions began about what a restoration plan would look like.
It was determined that the 18,000-acre Letterkenny Army Depot – with its minimally accessed land, historical grassland habitat and talented land managers – would serve as the starting point for quail restoration for the whole state.
The seconds it took quail to fly out of a few transport boxes into their new home was made possible by years of prior intensive habitat management and diligent planning among a variety of stakeholders.
“It's been a lot of hard work,” said Matt Miller, natural resources manager at the Letterkenny Army Depot. It has been very rewarding to see the benefits to our native habitats and our wildlife species here on the depot.”
“In 2017, the partnership began between us and the game commission to start habitat work…which was transitioning undesirable and non-native tree and shrub species to grasslands and early successional habitats.”
The NWTF proudly partnered on the project by acquiring a $100,000 Monarch Butterfly and Pollinators Conservation Fund grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
“Thank you to NWTF, who provided at least $110,000 worth of grants to the project converting agricultural fields into pollinator fields,” Andrew Ward, PGC quail, pheasant and dove biologist, said at the quail release ceremony. “Again, this project helping a wide variety of species beyond bobwhite, although bobwhite is our primary focus today.”
NWTF District Biologist Mitchell Blake, who wrote the Monarch Butterfly and Pollinators Conservation Fund NFWF grant application, saw it as an opportunity to benefit many species in one umbrella project.
The grant enabled the NWTF to purchase nearly $70,000 worth of a diverse pollinator seed mixture made up of 23 perennial forbs, including two different species of milkweed. In total, Letterkenny staff and partners were able to plant over 1000 pounds of pure live seed across 210 acres, enhancing the habitat diversity of the site and providing critical habitat to several imperiled lepidoptera species.
In addition to the array of pollinators and quail that will call the Letterkenny home, wild turkeys are also reaping the rewards, as indicated by the turkeys seen on the way to and from the quail release site.
The pollinator mix is getting better over time and offers essential cover and insect forage for brooding wild turkey poults and hens, as well as providing abundant nectar sources for migrating monarch butterflies and other lepidoptera species. The pollinator mixture will also offer the translocated quail aerial protection and ample seed forage.
In addition to the NWTF's involvement, other nongovernmental organizations joined in to help, including Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. Quail Forever hired dedicated habitat specialists who helped with the on-the-ground restoration work over the past several years, and the local Pheasants Forever Cumberland Valley Chapter provided significant support.
Researchers at the University of Delaware fitted quail released at Letterkenny with a leg band and a smaller group of birds with telemetry backpacks, as part of a UD project studying the birds' survival, habitat use, nesting success and movement.
“From the reintroduction of northern bobwhite quail to the turkeys seen in close proximity, last week was a success for wildlife in the Keystone State,” Blake said. “The NWTF is proud to partner on a project that so vividly illustrates how our work to conserve wild turkeys has such far-reaching benefits for entire ecosystems.”