Behavior and Ethology Commons^™

Cascading Effects Of Hunting Disturbance On Northern Bobwhite Behavior, Physiology, And Survival, Emily Prosser, Theron M. Terhune Ii, Kristen J. Navara, Geoff Beane, James A. Martin

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

The northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter, bobwhite) is an important gamebird across the United States and has been in decline for several decades. As a commonly hunted prey species, the bobwhite provides an ideal study species to investigate the use of proactive and reactive antipredator behaviors in response to hunting pressure. We designed an experiment to understand how late-season hunting affects bobwhite demographics using fecal glucocorticoid (fGCM) concentrations, foraging and movement behaviors, survival, and breeding season metrics. Our results show that bobwhite responded to increased interactions with a shotgun through proactive responses. After one encounter with …