Georgia has been a destination for quail hunters for more than a century. But recent declines in its bobwhite population have researchers searching for answers to boost the popular gamebird’s numbers.
A new study from the University of Georgia suggests the birds’ survival may depend on where they choose to roost. Unfortunately, they’re not always very good at choosing ideal spots.
Northern bobwhite quail are native to the central and eastern U.S., ranging from Florida to Michigan to Texas. But they’re difficult to spot and even more difficult to keep alive.
“There’s an old-timer saying: Bobwhite quail are good at doing one thing, and that’s dying,” said Justin Hill, corresponding author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher in UGA’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources .
Georgia’s bobwhite population has dropped by almost 90% since the 1960s, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, likely because the open, shrubby landscapes they depend on have become increasingly scarce.
The researchers examined the birds’ habitat choices and found that bobwhite with a stronger preference for woody cover were more likely to survive than the birds that roosted in less protected areas.
Wildlife researchers use habitat preferences to guide decisions about which habitat types to protect or restore. But an animal’s preference for a specific habitat doesn’t always show whether that habitat improves the animal’s chances of surviving or reproducing.
Researchers followed 169 radio-tagged bobwhite to 720 nighttime roosts over two fall and winter seasons in southern Indiana. They compared where the birds chose to sleep with the habitat available around them.
The birds largely preferred grasslands, areas that had recently been burned or otherwise cleared and were growing back, and spots near dense shrubs, briars and young trees, which the researchers refer to as woody cover. The researchers found birds that roosted in areas with abundant woody cover were about twice as likely to survive as birds that chose other roost sites.
Despite its name, woody cover does not mean a forest. It can include blackberry or plum thickets, young trees and overgrown fence rows.
“It’s a patch of any woody-stem vegetation that’s really kind of thick, nasty, difficult that you wouldn’t want to walk into,” Hill said.
That unpleasantness, at least from a human perspective, is precisely what appeals to quail.
Bobwhite quail live on the ground and rely on sudden, short bursts of flight to escape danger. Dense vegetation provides refuge from predators, including hawks, foxes and other animals pursuing the birds.
Hill described bobwhite as a kind of “poster child” for these ecosystems because many other declining species rely on the same landscape. This type of environment also supports songbirds, rabbits, wild turkey, deer and other wildlife.
The study’s findings could help wildlife managers determine which types of habitats are most beneficial to large groups of animals and prioritize restoring those areas accordingly.
“A person standing nearly anywhere in good quail habitat should be able to face in several directions, throw a softball and reach a patch of woody cover,” Hill said.
A bobwhite is released by researchers. (Submitted video)
The research reinforces something wildlife managers have long recognized: Woody cover is an important part of good quail habitat. But it’s not just nice to have for the northern bobwhite.
It may help them survive.
Published in Oecologia, the study was co-authored by James Martin , a professor in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and director of its Gamebird and Managed Ecosystems ( G.A.M.E. ) Lab. Additional co-authors include Emily McCallen of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Oecologia
Northern Bobwhite roost site selection influences survival during the non-breeding season
7-Aug-2026