Bobwhite quail reintroduced to native W. Va. will have to contend with more predators and man-made development

West Virginia is reintroducing 21,000 bobwhite quail in seven sites around the state as part of an effort to bring back a much-missed bird native to the mountains, Kris Maher reports for The Wall Street Journal. The move has delighted old hunters of the bird — like Gov. Jim Justice — who pursued the species "well into the 1970s before they largely disappeared from the state."

Bobwhite quail (Photo from Office of Gov. Jim Justice)

“I’ve missed these little rascals and lots of people have,” Justice said at a press briefing last week announcing the restoration project. “It’s a bird that has been here forever and an incredible wildlife that we need to protect and bring back.”

The pen-raised quail will have to contend with a large predator population of hawks, raccoons and opossums, plus development that has depleted the species' natural habitat. "Northern bobwhite thrive in shrubby terrain that is disappearing as the use of controlled fires has declined and farms increasingly rely on neat parcels of land to maximize acreage," Maher writes, citing John Morgan, the director of the National Bobwhite & Grassland Initiative, which focuses on restoring the bird's habitat in 23 states.

“The needs of the species are a total mismatch with modern land use,” Morgan said. “We’re trying to change that culture by saying weeds are OK and blackberry bushes are good.” Partly because of conservation efforts, the northern bobwhite still has strong populations in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, but across the U.S., the species is losing half its population every seven years.