Consider a large field in Kentucky. Think about the most common, treeless stretch of land when driving along the road, for instance. It’s likely that the imagination would bring one to think of a corn, soy, or tobacco field, a fully mowed expanse, or a perfectly manicured lawn.
Now imagine a native prairie, which historically comprised approximately 3 million acres of Kentucky’s habitats. The prairie is an unkempt, complex mosaic of tall grasses and forbs. These can all certainly be considered habitats, but not all habitats are of equal quality. Only one of these sustainably supports a bird championed by all.
The northern bobwhite is a charismatic species of quail that relies heavily on prairie habitat year-round for raising chicks, finding insects, berries, and seeds to eat, and effectively escaping predation. This elusive ground bird will stay as still as possible when a perceived danger is present and flush out when startled, flying close to the ground. Predation is a natural, common occurrence among bobwhites and their nests, with just over a quarter of the nests established succeeding to broods. Adult bobwhites must survive relentless predation as well.
The bobwhite approach to survival is one of strength in numbers. A stable population will have birds nesting multiple times, with males and females incubating eggs. It makes sense; the more quail there are, the higher the number of successes there will be. And therein lies a crucial issue: northern bobwhite numbers have declined dramatically.
In fact, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey, the northern bobwhite population has plummeted by 81% between the mid-1960s and 2019. The decline is not due to predation or hunting pressure. Hunters have helped fund and invest in conservation efforts for decades, and quail have lived among their predators for millions of years. The culprit, as is true for many species across Kentucky and the globe, is habitat loss.
Since European settlement, the 3 million acres of native Kentucky prairie grasslands have almost disappeared, with less than 1% remaining. Multiple factors led to this disappearance, including advances in agricultural technology, the invasion of non-native fescues and other turfgrasses, land development, and the elimination of fire from the natural landscape.
The effects of these factors are far-reaching for the northern bobwhite. The cover that bobwhites require in untidy-looking prairies is cut low and replaced with Bermuda grass. The frequent, low-intensity fires that used to prevent the succession of trees and shrubs within grasslands and prairies are nearly gone, allowing woodlands and forests to quickly take over.
In this region of the United States, the prairie is a disturbance-obligate habitat. For a prairie to remain a prairie, it relies on occurrences like fire and grazing to set back the growth of woody species and promote the growth of warm-season grasses and forbs. These disturbances used to occur naturally throughout Kentucky, and Native Americans practiced burning prairies to maintain early successional habitats. Similarly, modern prairie restoration and stewardship work seeks to mimic these natural disturbances to promote biodiversity. This opens the door for bobwhites to thrive.
Around fifteen years ago, Bernheim began raising northern bobwhites for reintroduction. Eggs were incubated and hatched within Bernheim by staff, chicks were raised, and adults were released into a rich prairie-glade complex in the remote interior of the forest. Since then, more native prairies have been established or restored. Bernheim now has over 300 acres of prairie and glade habitat, with an additional 45 acres currently being installed or established. Bobwhites were released into a few of these areas and left alone to do what they do best: stay hidden and lay lots of eggs.
The reintroduction of the northern bobwhite in Bernheim’s prairie spaces was made possible by the efforts of Bernheim staff in raising the birds from eggs and through the crucial habitat restoration work done in the Wilson Valley and beyond. These birds are now seen and heard all throughout Bernheim in these rewilded prairie areas.
