Sul Ross State University
A Member of the Texas State University System

Nesting Ecology of Scaled Quail at Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area, Brewster County, Texas

by Scott P. Lerich, Dale Rollins and Louis A. Harveson

We investigated scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) nesting ecology and survival at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area, Brewster County, Texas.

During spring of 2000 and 2001, 179 scaled quail were captured (131 in 2000, 48 in 2001) in funnel traps on two study sites and banded with individually-numbered aluminum leg bands.

One-hundred eighteen scaled quail (70 F, 2 M in 2000; 25 F, 21 M in 2001) were radiomarked with neck-loop telemeters. A treatment site contained spreader dams constructed circa 1950s, whereas the control site had no spreader dams.

Survival and nest success rates were compared to simulated nest survival. Predator indices were monitored with scent stations and simulated quail nests.

Weekly survival, from March-September, was similar between sites and years (0.64 vs. 0.5 in 2000, 0.56 vs. 0.58 in 2001). I failed to reject the Ho: spreader dams have no effect on reproduction and survival of scaled quail.

Cause-specific mortality (n = 32) included kills by mammals (43 percent), unknown predators (31 percent), avian predators (13 percent) and drowning (9 percent).

Eleven nests were detected in 2000-2001; four hatched, five were depredated and two were abandoned. Nests were located in bunch grasses (n = 5) and under shrubs (n = 6).

Earliest recorded nesting activity was 15 April; latest hatch date was approximately 7 September. Forty-four of 96 (46 percent) simulated quail nests survived in 2000, but only 3 of 96 (3 percent) of simulated quail nests survived in 2001. 

Survival of scaled quail in this study was slightly less than unpublished data for other Texas scaled quail populations and higher than survival reported for northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) from the southeastern USA.

Cooperative funding by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Sul Ross State University and Texas Cooperative Extension