December was an eventful month at the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch. Our technicians worked tirelessly to prepare for winter trapping and did an outstanding job during the trapping process. Over two consecutive weeks, our staff and volunteers handled 2,857 birds, of which 1,620 were “unique” individuals. Most (88%) were bobwhites, but 12% of the trapped birds were scaled quail. Additionally, we deployed 88 radio collars—fewer than usual—but are optimistic about deploying GPS collars in the Spring.
Among the highlights were two female scaled quail exhibiting what we suspect to be a dilute genetic mutation. See photographs under the Facebook section. Both birds were juveniles and were captured from the same covey. Check them out . . . are they beautiful birds, or what?
Another interesting discovery was a male bobwhite quail hatched in the summer of 2019, making him 5 years old. Considering that fewer than 20% of quail survive to see their first birthday, trapping such “Methusalah birds” is pretty cool! by Mitchell Riggs
