Research

By: Dr. Dan Foley For decades, traditional VHF radio telemetry has been one of the most important tools in quail research. VHF collars allowed researchers to relocate bobwhites, estimate survival, identify general habitat use, and find nests that otherwise would have gone undetected. That technology built much of the foundation…

by Dan Foley The Mexican ground squirrel is easy to overlook. It looks like a small, striped, harmless seed-eating rodent often seen in short grass, roadsides, grazed pastures, and field edges. But its diet tells a more complicated story. Scientifically, the species is best described as an opportunistic omnivore. It…

By Kyndal Underwood Spring marks one of the most critical periods for quail populations as nesting season begins across the Rolling Plains. At the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch (RPQRR), we recently documented our first nest of the 2026 season—an encouraging sign for this year’s reproductive efforts and overall habitat…

By: Kyndal Underwood This spring, three pastures on the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch are undergoing a targeted restoration effort through the Natural Resources Conservation Service Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). The objective is to establish diverse native plant communities that support wildlife, particularly quail—while improving overall rangeland function, productivity,…

By Dr. Dan Foley By May, most quail managers are asking the same question: What kind of quail year are we setting up for? It is a reasonable question, but it is also one that deserves a cautious answer. Spring gives us clues, not conclusions. At the Rolling Plains Quail…

By Dr. Dan Foley A young bird dog coming into your string—whether it’s 10 weeks or six months—is less a blank slate than a partially written manuscript. Your job isn’t to start over; it’s to read what’s already there and avoid editing out the parts that matter. For the upcoming…

By Dr. Ryan O’Shaughnessy Across much of their historic range, native quail populations have declined due to habitat loss, fragmentation, and changing land use practices. While conservation programs and research have made meaningful contributions, the future of quail ultimately depends on one critical factor: the willingness of private landowners to…

Late Winter Nutrition for Quail Late winter on the Rolling Plains can look like a nutritional dead zone—dry grasses, bare ground, and a landscape that feels stuck between seasons. Then a timely February rain hits, and almost overnight, cool-season forbs and grasses green up. Depending on your country, that may…

By Dr. Dan Foley Over 4–5 days towards the end of January, Winter Storm Fern moved through Texas and much of the South with a familiar suite of stressors: hard freezes, wind, sleet/freezing rain, and intermittent snow. A winter-storm disaster proclamation was issued on January 22, 2026, and expanded to…

by Dr. Dan Foley Every hunter who cleans birds long enough eventually encounters something unexpected. During our recent fall trapping event on the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch (RPQRR), we observed several individual bobwhite quail carrying flat-looking flies moving through the feathers. These insects are louse flies—often called keds. Their…