Bobwhite quail introduction

Rob (Robert) Hilton robert at csa.com
Thu Sep 23 11:01:11 EDT 1999


At 10:21 AM 09/23/1999 -0400, Ted Ryznar wrote:
>Why were they brought in in the first place?  When I was growing up they
>were common. I used to enjoy hearing them. They completely disappeared.
>Habitat destruction and insecticide overuse I would suspect. so what is
>wrong for sportsmen to try to re-introduce the species? Maybe not. At least
>they got off of their behinds and tried to do something. I always read

Hi, 

In New York the southern quail that sportsmen brought in (to augment
over-hunted quail) were not adapted to the northern winters.  They were
brought in in such numbers that they swamped the native birds that were
adapted to the climate.  The result?  A genetically maladapted population
that cannot survive the climate.  It was the same species but the
individuals were from a different population.  

In my first post I said nothing about the rightness or wrongness of
re-introduction.  Nor did I say that sportsmen (or the game department)
brought the birds in.  I was showing what happened by releasing individuals
of a non-indigenous conspecific population.  

Best, 

Rob


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