In the book “A Guide to and Culture of Flowering Plants and their Seed Important to Bobwhite Quail,” Walter Rosene and John D. Freeman describe the variety of plants and seeds that bobwhites use at different times of the season.  But perhaps more important than plant species is the availability of seeds to this small bird.  Rosene and Freeman state,

A particular plant species may produce an abundance of seed, but if those seed fall upon a thick litter and filter into that mat of dead material, a ground feeding bird likely will have difficulty finding them.  Also, should seed remain in aerial stems of the plant for any prolonged period, they would be more likely to be eaten by a bird that feeds from perches rather than one on the ground like a quail.

Therefore, habitat practices that reduce leaf litter and make seed accessible on the ground are beneficial to bobwhites.

Bobwhites range up to one-quarter mile per day.  It is possible to manage bobwhite habitat on as little as 20 acres, however other quality habitat and bobwhites must be in the vicinity.  Smaller landholdings will be less successful at supporting multiple coveys.  Isolated pairs of birds will not survive long.  With as much as a 75% annual mortality, large numbers of bobwhites are needed to sustain the population when weather conditions, habitat changes, or other factors reduce survival.

Bobwhites begin the breeding season in the spring with males calling in earnest in April to attract a mate.  Males display a courtship ritual in which feathers are extended with wingtips touching the ground and elbows thrown forward.  This posture produces the appearance of a “feather wall.”  The male turns his head to display white markings and makes short rushes towards the female.

Pair bonding usually occurs between covey members and nest building begins in May.  The breeding season throughout most of the southeast lasts from May to September.  Nesting sites include old fields and pine woodlands that have been left unburned for one or two years, or occasionally in dead tree tops on the ground.  Eggs are laid in a shallow depression lined with grass.  The nest is concealed by arching grasses and has a small side entrance.

The female bobwhite lays a clutch of 6 to 28 eggs, while 12 to 16 eggs is average.  Females usually lay about one egg per day until incubation begins, usually between 15 to 20 days following nest construction.  Within 2 to 5 days of laying the last egg, incubation begins with eggs hatching 23 to 24 days later.  The eggs are a little over an inch in size, smooth, glossy, creamy white to buffy, and unmarked.

Incubation is a critical time for nest survival.  Both sexes have been observed incubating eggs, though most often it is the female.  An estimated 55% to 70% of these first nests are destroyed by predators, mowing activities, or inclement weather.  The attending adult is killed in about 25% of these nest failures.  If one parent is killed but the nest is intact, the other bird will hatch and raise the young.  Peak hatching season is mid-July.  If unsuccessful, another one or two nesting attempts will be made with possibly new pair bonds throughout the breeding season, however not all pairs bring off a brood.

Newly hatched chicks weigh one-quarter of an ounce and are about the size of a bumble bee.  Most hatch within an hour or two.  After drying, the downy chicks are mobile and can follow their parents.  Shortly after hatching, hens guide the chicks away from the nest, and any unhatched eggs or late-hatching chicks are abandoned.  According to one study, the drying period for chicks is critical to their survival.  Wet weather combined with poor cover are thought to contribute to the mortality of newly-hatched chicks that are unable to get dry.  Additionally, until they fly in two to six weeks, predation and bad weather may take 50% or more of the hatched chicks.  Until they fly, adult birds guide flightless chicks to insect-rich “bugging” habitat.  Optimally, this habitat allows chicks to move freely around and through vegetation while providing protection from predators, intense heat, or wet conditions.  Adult birds are reluctant to abandon flightless chicks even when attacked by predators, and therefore continue to be at risk.

Bobwhites are social birds and when not nesting or brooding, they live in coveys of 10 to 30 members.  A covey is a flock of two or more family groups.  Coveys begin forming in late summer and early fall.  The covey functions as a unit; they eat together, loiter together, and roost together.  They use an assembly call and subdued clucks to communicate.  When roosting, bobwhites form a circle with their tails inward and heads directed outward.  This formation conserves body heat and if spooked, bobwhites will flush in all directions, thereby confusing a predator.  As winter progresses and food becomes scarce before the spring green-up, as many as 75% of the early fall population may be lost.  As spring approaches, the social structure of the covey disappears when the breeding season begins.

Table: Plants providing food or cover for bobwhites arranged by plant type (modified from Rosene and Freeman, 1988).