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Behavior and Ethology Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Behavior and Ethology

Climate Impacts On North American Quail, Shelby M. Perry, Erin Moser, Jeffrey G. Whitt, Kelly S. Reyna Sep 2022

Climate Impacts On North American Quail, Shelby M. Perry, Erin Moser, Jeffrey G. Whitt, Kelly S. Reyna

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

North America’s quail population trends are often linked to regional climate. Extreme climate events such as severe drought, hard freezes, or excessive winter precipitation can reduce quail populations by as much as 84%. Above-average spring and summer temperatures coincident with drought can reduce the laying season for quail by ≤60 days. Exposure of quail eggs to high temperatures during preincubation can initiate and alter embryonic development. Here, we review the impacts of extreme climate events and a changing climate on the survival, reproduction, and population trends of 6 North American quail species: California quail (Callipepla californica), Gambel’s quail …


Winter Diet Of Montezuma Quail In Arizona And New Mexico, Oscar E. López-Bujanda, Alberto Macías-Duarte, Reyna A. Castillo-Gámez, Angel B. Montoya Sep 2022

Winter Diet Of Montezuma Quail In Arizona And New Mexico, Oscar E. López-Bujanda, Alberto Macías-Duarte, Reyna A. Castillo-Gámez, Angel B. Montoya

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

Investigating the diet composition of Montezuma quail (Cyrtonyx montezumae) is fundamental for unveiling how food resources limit the species’ population size and may provide relevant tools for their harvest and habitat management. The objective of this research was to determine the composition and geographic variation of the winter diet of the Montezuma quail in Arizona and New Mexico, USA, from quail crops harvested during the hunting seasons of 2008–2017. In addition, we used beta regression analyses to determine the effect of environmental factors and ecological variables (annual mean precipitation, annual mean temperature, landscape diversity, diet diversity, time of …


Age, Sex And Family Composition Of Montezuma Quail (Cyrtonyx Montezumae) Coveys In Arizona, New Mexico, And Texas, Alberto Macias-Duarte, Angel B. Montoya Sep 2022

Age, Sex And Family Composition Of Montezuma Quail (Cyrtonyx Montezumae) Coveys In Arizona, New Mexico, And Texas, Alberto Macias-Duarte, Angel B. Montoya

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

The Montezuma quail (Cyrtonyx montezumae) is a popular game bird in Arizona and New Mexico, USA, but hunting seasons remain closed in Texas, USA. Estimates of age structure parameters and sex ratios in game birds are essential information for predicting population trajectories and developing sustainable harvest and conservation strategies. Montezuma quail form coveys during the winter as a behavioral strategy for improved survival. In this regard, we harvested 1–4 individuals from 112 Montezuma quail coveys in Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas from 2009 through 2020 to estimate sex and age composition (juvenile vs. adults) of coveys. We …


Nesting Of Montezuma Quail In Mexico, David García-Solózano, Carlos González-Rebeles Islas, German D. Mendoza Martínez, Ernesto Ávila González, Fidel Hernández Sep 2022

Nesting Of Montezuma Quail In Mexico, David García-Solózano, Carlos González-Rebeles Islas, German D. Mendoza Martínez, Ernesto Ávila González, Fidel Hernández

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

Although Mexico has the greatest diversity of quail of any New World country, basic information on the ecology and life history of Mexican quails remains unknown. Our objective was to describe nest characteristics of the Montezuma quail (Cyrtonyx montezumae montezumae) in central Mexico. We searched for Montezuma quail nests within 8 counties in the state of México, Mexico during May–September 2003. We conducted nest searches along 66 transects (3–5 km × 40 m) distributed across 17 study sites. We recorded vegetation community, elevation, and nesting substrate for each nest. We measured nest characteristics: height, depth, nest entrance diameter, …


Montezuma Quail In The Edwards Plateau Of Texas: Detection, Occurrence, And Habitat, Zachary J. Pearson, Eric D. Grahmann, Fidel Hernández, Robert Perez, Leonard A. Brennan, Humberto L. Perotto-Baldivieso Sep 2022

Montezuma Quail In The Edwards Plateau Of Texas: Detection, Occurrence, And Habitat, Zachary J. Pearson, Eric D. Grahmann, Fidel Hernández, Robert Perez, Leonard A. Brennan, Humberto L. Perotto-Baldivieso

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

Montezuma quail (Cyrtonyx montezumae) were historically found throughout nearly every county in the Edwards Plateau region of Texas, USA. Over the last century, shifting land use, reduction of fire on the landscape, and the subsequent encroachment of woody vegetation have constricted the distribution of Montezuma quail to a few counties in the southern portion of the Edwards Plateau. A renewed interest in management for Montezuma quail over the last decade has been met with a lack of information regarding their habitat requirements in this region. This lack of general information and increased sightings of this elusive species in …