You don't need any secret ingredients to turn your land into a good place for quail. It just takes a mix of plants and ground cover with the right habitat management practices.

Plants like those in the Quail Cover Bundle provide important shrubby cover, but you'll also need to have other key habitats nearby . The good news is that it's as simple as ABC:

map of quail bundle layout

A

An important part of quail habitat is shrubby brushy cover. It provides protection from predators, winter cold and summer heat. Small trees such as dogwood, wild plum and upright shrubs give good shelter without becoming too dense underneath or too tight a canopy above. These brushy areas should be at least 15 feet wide. If you plant a Quail Cover Bundle, place the small trees (wild plum, dogwood, etc.) in the center rows and the shorter shrubs on the outer rows, spacing the plants about 5 feet apart.

B

Grasses and legumes, when burned or grazed to keep at least 20% of the ground bare (free of plant material), give quail a good place to roost, nest and raise their young. Fescue and brome tend to be the least hospitable to quail because they grow so thick. However, all grasses require management to keep some bare ground for the birds.

If you have the choice of creating ideal grass-land habitat for quail, it might include a medium-height, warm-season grass (such as little bluestem) and forbs (legumes, flowers, etc.). Some possible native forbs include tick trefoil (desmodium spp.) slender lespedeza (lespedeza virginica) and prairie rose (rosa setigera). Korean lespedeza, a non-native, can be added one season after the grass is planted.

C

Quail favor annual plants such as ragweed, partridge pea and foxtail, although they'll eat a great variety of seeds and insects. Like rabbits, quail are an “early successional” species. That means you'll find them in places that are not densely overgrown and that have some disturbed ground with annual plants.

Land that is periodically tilled, planted or not, provides diverse food for quail. Disking some of the field is good for annuals, but avoid heavy tillage as it limits insects that quail like to eat. If you choose to plant food plots, milo makes a good winter food for quail.

Quail Cover Bundle:

Steps to establish the plants:

  1. Locate a planting area near good adjacent potential quail habitat. (See sample landscape mix.)
  2. Destroy existing grass and weeds by tilling or applying a broad spectrum contact herbicide such as Roundup or Touchdown. It's best to do this in the fall prior to planting, but you can do it up to the day you plant. Treat the entire planting area.
  3. image of plant/tree layoutFlag the rows at 5-foot spacings and plant your shrubs with a shovel, tree planting bar or mechanical planter:
  4. Prior to May of the planting year, broadcast ladino clover at 2 lbs./acre or annual lespedeza at 6 lbs./acre to control weeds. If you don't try to control weeds by planting these non-aggressive legumes, you'll have to spray herbicide for several years after planting to get the shrubs established.
  5. Exclude livestock from the Quail Cover Bundle planting area.