image linking to 100 Top Bass Fishing Sites image linking to 100 Top Saltwater Fishing Sites image linking to 100 Top Fly Fishing Sites image linking to 100 Top Walleye Sites image linking to 100 Top Small Game Sites image linking to 100 Top Birds and Waterfowl Sites
* * * IMPORTANT NOTICE * * *
You are currently viewing the old OUTDOOR CENTRAL.COM website ARCHIVES.  For the latest in hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation related news, and an ALL NEW experience, including user friendly navigation, search capabilities, an Outdoor Central Video Network, and more, be sure to visit our NEW WEBSITE, located at http://www.outdoorcentral.com.    Visit the new, improved website, you'll be glad you did!  CLICK HERE
 

Weeds – good for quail, bad for allergies

Weeds are an important part of quality quail habitat, according to Mike Sams, upland bird biologist for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. Landowners can increase the plant diversity and quail cover on their property through a range of management techniques such as disking, prescribed fire and controlled grazing.9/26/05
Weed pollen may have many Oklahomans reaching for a tissue this fall, but that is good news for quail, according to Mike Sams, upland bird biologist for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

“Biologists call them forbs, but everybody else calls them weeds,” Sams said. “These forbs or weeds are often overlooked as an important component in quality quail habitat.”

While weather patterns often dictate booms in quail populations, no boom would be possible without habitat, and weeds are an important part of quail habitat.

There’s nothing we can do about the weather, but we can work hard to make sure that quality habitat is available for quail. Good habitat, and weeds are a part of good habitat, is like a buffer - it can lessen the impact of severe weather swings,” Sams said. “While weeds are cussed and discussed by landowners managing for grass, weeds are a life blood of quail in native brushy prairie.”

According to Sams, one of the most important factors in quality habitat is weed diversity.  Sams points out that ragweed, sunflowers, crotons, smartweed and many other weeds are important part of a quail’s diet.

“Bobwhite require a variety of foods for their nutritional needs and the more types of seeds available the better,” said Sams.

Managing for a variety of plant species, rather than emphasizing a single species in a food plot, increases the probability of the proper food being available, Sams said. Different plants produce seeds at different times during the growing season and different types of seeds provide different nutrients. Just having ragweed and other weeds is not enough, though. In fact, properties covered in ragweed reflect grazing abuse and are not usually good quail habitat.

Landowners can increase the plant diversity and quail cover on their property through a range of management techniques such as disking, prescribed fire and controlled grazing.

To learn more about improving the quail habitat on your property, log on to www.wildlifedepartment.com/laprogrm.htm.

 -30-

 

 

Click Here To Return To The Previous Page

<%server.execute "/bottom.asp"%>