L. Andrew Madison

Improving Northern Bobwhite Brood Rearing Habitat in Tall Fescue Dominated Fields

Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea)-dominated fields provide poor northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) brood rearing habitat. Burning, disking, and herbicide applications have been recommended to improve bobwhite habitat within fescue-dominated fields. We implemented fall burning, fall disking, spring burning, spring disking, spring herbicide application, summer burning, and summer disking in fescue-dominated fields on 4 wildlife management areas across Kentucky. We sampled invertebrate populations and vegetative structure in summers 1992 and 1993 to determine if bobwhite brood rearing...