Unknown Bird

[Jagmandave]

Are there any birds or frogs or anything that happen to think fire ants are a tasty treat?

 

[EddieWalker]

Fire ants are pretty much left alone by everything out there. It only takes one attack by them to learn that lesson!!!

A few weeks ago there was a story in the news that a virus was found in Florida that is extremly effective at wiping out fire ants. I don't know any details, nor how long it takes to come out with something that we can buy, but it's encouraging news.

I honstly don't know to what degree fire ants play in the loss of bird life, but there are allot of birds out there, and it seems that quail are the ones being said to by dying off from them. I was told that the fire ant's get the baby chicks right after they are born. This makes sense to a small degree, but again, I have no idea if it's true or not.

From what I have seen, places that improve the habitat for quail by letting the grass grow and not mowing there fields have had dramatic increases in quail populations. Fire ants or not, mowing seems to be the biggest factor that I know of. Quail must have lots of tall grass and plants in a pasture to survive.

Eddie

 

[txdon]

Eddie the fire ants do kill baby birds. I have seen fire ants crawl up a bush 4 feet to a cardinal's nest and kill all the baby birds the day after they hatched. Sad. I have not seen the Bobwhite quail again, I guess he was just passing through.

My antlions are working overtime but they can't keep up.

 

[KaiB]

Eddie's spot on about the cover.

We got the cattle off last Nov. after three years of drought and over grazing...with the spring rains, the pastures are way up. I've seen two coveys back on already; for the past years, I never saw them on the place, just the roadside ditches.

Gonna keep it this way as our ag plans have changed; all but 20 acres will be managed for birds now.

 

[Coyote]

I spend a lot of time and energy planting food plots for Mr. Bobwhite at my place! Quail Unlimited is a great resource for you. I have hunted quail since I was a kid and have seen their decline. Anything you can do to bring them back will be great. If you have any questions feel free to contact me privately, I am passionate about restoring the population! Here in the East their biggest threat is developers! People are planting condos where crops used to be!

End of rant.....

 

[hunterridgefarm]

I spend a lot of time and energy planting food plots for Mr. Bobwhite at my place! Quail Unlimited is a great resource for you. I have hunted quail since I was a kid and have seen their decline. Anything you can do to bring them back will be great. If you have any questions feel free to contact me privately, I am passionate about restoring the population! Here in the East their biggest threat is developers! People are planting condos where crops used to be!

End of rant.....

Coyote,

I plan on planting food plots for quail next year. When I was young I raised Farrow Quail (sp) since we had a lot of Bobwhite. But they did not do to well. I also raised Silver and Golden Pheasants and released in the wild. I remember seeing some of them in the wild five years after I released them.

We plan on creating a great wildlife habitat on our property.

When I start I'll get intouch with you for information.

David

 

[Coyote]

Super! Let's cover the state up with 'em! I'm in Davidson Co so I got the central part covered. I've got 100 acres myself and partners on another 90. We have a couple of wild covies now, plan to add to the population this summer.

Tom (Coyote)

Coyote,

I plan on planting food plots for quail next year. When I was young I raised Farrow Quail (sp) since we had a lot of Bobwhite. But they did not do to well. I also raised Silver and Golden Pheasants and released in the wild. I remember seeing some of them in the wild five years after I released them.

We plan on creating a great wildlife habitat on our property.

When I start I'll get intouch with you for information.

David

 

[RG_Upton]

I'm with Eddie on the habitat destruction link to declining quail populations. I understand that one of the factors contributing to this destruction is Round Up. Prior to the use of this and similar products to keep fence lines clear, a lot of fence lines were overgrown with vegetation up to shrub size. This made an ideal place for ground dwelling birds to escape from predators and nest. Since most of the fence lines are now clean due to the use of herbicides, this habitat is gone along with the birds.

 

[KaiB]

Yep, edge habitat is crucial. QU is a great organization for those willing to provide habitat, and for those so inclined, the gubbernment has a few interesting programs within the Continuous CRP plans.

Our local QU has a great no-till drill to loan, many sacks of seeds and hands to help if needed.

We're lucky to see a great resurgance(sp) in pheasant here also.

 

[gordon21]

Eddie: Where would you buy baby quail? I have 2.5 acres on the top of a small mountain and I cleared only enough land to place my house. I left some oak trees as close as 8'-10' from the foundation. The rest of the lot is heavily wooded and so is the land of my two next door neighbors. Quail would be great to have around if they could survive a western NC winter where it gets down to the teens a few nights per year. There would be lots of ground cover with all the mountain laurel.

I routinely see deer, rabbits and squirrels within 1500' of my house. Quail would be a nice addition. What would I feed them??