Conservation department works to increase Stoddard County quail habitat

AQUILLA, Mo. — Flanked by vast expanses of fertile Stoddard County agricultural land, Crowley’s Ridge Conservation Area stands out for the quality of its wildlife habitat.

The 1,788-acre property, owned by the Missouri Department of Conservation, is located a few miles northwest of Bloomfield and about 10 miles east of Puxico.

Designated as one of 19 "Quail Emphasis Areas" in the state by MDC, Crowley’s Ridge CA is being intensely managed by officials.

"Our emphasis is quail management," said Matt Bowyer, the MDC wildlife management biologist in charge of the area, "and our goal is to have one-half quail per acre in the fall."

Habitat, Bowyer said, is the key to improving quail numbers.

"We’re really focusing on early successional habitat," Bowyer said. "The amount of quail management going on down here is impressive."

That management, Bowyer said, is part of a larger, nation-wide program called the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative.

Crowley’s Ridge, like some public areas, previously had been managed for quail, Bowyer said, but not on a consistent basis.

"Today, we are constantly doing something on the area," said Bowyer.

Quail have "struggled for many years" because of modern farming practices, Bowyer said.

"Everything is clean now," Bowyer said, describing the lack of brushy areas and quality food and cover in agricultural areas.

Those conditions, he said, aren’t conducive to raising quail.

Bobwhite quail, Bowyer said, have two critical needs for their survival: woody cover and weedy fields, with bare ground underneath for brood cover.

The woody cover, he said, provides a place to escape predators and hide, while the weedy fields provide seeds for food and overhead cover for young quail.

Under the Quail Emphasis Area guidelines, Bowyer and other MDC staff members are working hard to improve habitat at Crowley’s Ridge.

"It’s a pretty neat team effort," Bowyer said.

A variety of land management techniques are being used to achieve MDC objectives.

Controlled burning is used to reduce undesirable plant species, like tall fescue, which have no value for wildlife, and to thin areas which are overgrown.

"Quail really have trouble moving in a fescue patch," Bowyer said, "so we spray fescue on a regular basis. Last year, we sprayed 100 acres of invasive species, like tall fescue and sericea lespedeza on Crowley’s Ridge."

Controlled burns also are used during the summer, Bowyer said, to thin stands of warm-season grasses and kill sapling trees, especially sweetgums, which tend to quickly overtake open fields.

"We’ve done a lot of burning," Bowyer said, "to make  fields more suitable for quail, rabbits and songbirds."

Another benefit of burning, Bowyer said, is weedy growth and warm-season grasses, like broomsedge and bluestem, return quickly to burned areas, providing food and cover for quail.

So far, Bowyer said, officials have burned about 700 acres on the property over the last two years.

Disking also is an important management tool Bowyer and his crew use.

"We do a lot of strip disking because it creates bare ground and helps annual weeds grow in the spring," he said.

Ragweed, considered by many as a weedy pest, Bowyer said, is the No. 1 food for quail and responds well to disking.

Because quail are "always near a transition zone" and don’t venture far from escape cover, Bowyer said, some  trees along field edges are downed and left on the ground to create "edge feathering."

These trees and brush piles create low, shrubby habitat, he said, which also provides protective overhead cover.

In addition, some woodland areas are being managed by selectively removing trees, which will open the overhead canopy and allow more grass growth underneath.

"We spend a lot of time with chainsaws in our hands," Bowyer said.

Some row crops are grown every summer at Crowley’s Ridge, Bowyer said, and a portion is always left as winter food for the area’s wildlife. Many times, crops are left standing for up to two years so weeds can grow among them to create good brood cover in the spring.

Rodney Vaughn, an MDC wildlife resource assistant, works at Crowley’s Ridge daily, and called the area’s transformation over the last two years "dramatic.

"I’ve been working here on  and off for 10 years," he said, "and it’s much better."

Vaughn said MDC is not done with its work, "but we’ve made good strides."

Public input has been positive, Vaughn said, especially  from the 600-1,000 small game hunters who visited Crowley’s Ridge last year.

This year, hunters on the area will find easier access to many areas.

"We’ve really focused on making the fields hunter friendly, with more access," said Bowyer.

"We’re just getting a handle on things now," Bowyer said, but after just two years of work, he’s beginning to see the fruits of his labor.

"We’re slowly picking up more quail," he said.

Quail calling surveys, done in several locations on the Crowley’s Ridge property multiple times a year, as well as survey cards filled out by hunters, prove quail numbers are improving, Bowyer said.

Rabbit populations have also increased, as have turkey numbers, he said.

Bowyer said he hopes Crowley’s Ridge’s habitat improvements will reach beyond the area.

MDC offers a cost-share program for landowners doing quail management, he said, and several federal programs are available to help.

Bowyer explained that many landowners in Southeast Missouri have created quailfriendly habitat by installing field borders and food plots.

"In recent years, landowners have created a lot of quail habitat and they are seeing more quail in their fields.

"There’s a big push right now for quail management on public and private property," Bowyer said, and because of that, MDC hopes to use Crowley’s Ridge as a sample area in the future, "where we can bring landowners here and show them management practices."