Dale Rollins

As part of an ongoing investigation of sustainable harvest strategies for northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) populations, we are estimating overwinter survival in two Texas ecoregions that have stable bobwhite population trends, the Rolling Plains and the Rio Grande Plains. Estimating overwinter survival in the absence of hunting is an important variable in developing a sustained-yield harvest strategy for bobwhites. Overwinter bobwhite survival was estimated using radio-marked bobwhites from 16 November 2007 to 29 February 2008. Overwinter survival estimates were calculated using...

Long-term population declines and conservation concerns resulting from large scale habitat loss have brought into question the biological justification of fixed, liberal harvest regulations as they apply to new world quail (Odontophoridae). As available quail habitat declines, biologically justifiable and sustainable methods of harvest will become essential components of quail management. Two hypotheses, the doomed-surplus hypothesis and the additive mortality hypothesis, attempt to provide a conceptual framework regarding the nature of mortality in hunted populations (i.e., compensatory...

Traditionally, reducing game-bird nest depredation has involved lethal means of predator control. We evaluated a non-lethal alternative, conditioned taste aversion (CTA), in Tom Green County, Texas. Simulated nests were constructed and baited with 3 eggs injected with lithium chloride, an aversive chemical. Simulated nests were constructed along the perimeter of a 40-ha pasture. A 21-day treatment phase was conducted with depredated nests being rebaited daily with treated eggs. A 28-day posttreatment phase involved establishing 24 non-treated nests in both the treated pasture and a control...

Fall-winter diets of sympatric bobwhite (Colinus uirginianus) and scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) in southwestern Oklahoma were compared during 1978 80 using analysis of crop contents. High overlap was present between the 2 species for 1978 - 79 (Overlap coefficient C = 0.65) and 1979 - 80 (C = 0.88). Staple items included seeds of wheat, mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa), broomweed (Xanthocephalum dracunculoides), buffalobur (Solanum rostratum), and flax (Linum sp.). Frequency of occurrence of broomweed seeds increased as winter progressed in 1979 - 80, possibly because of low...