Native Warm Season Grasses for Quail Habitat

At our last meeting, I briefly described my personal experience with the Virginia Quail Action plan, a comprehensive plan to reverse the declining numbers of Northern bobwhite quail in Virginia by addressing habitat loss and degradation. Here is a bit more detail along with some photos.

The establishment process started more than a year ago, the fall prior to planting.  The existing cover of fescue was bush-hogged in mid September, just as the hot summer temperatures were starting to subside.  In early October, once the fescue had added several inches of lush regrowth, the field was treated with herbicide (32 ounces of glyphosate per acre).  Our goal was to eliminate the fescue sod and create some bare soil for sowing the native warm season grasses in the following spring.

The following April produced the results of our herbicide treatment.  As the neighboring fescue fields turned bright green, our field stayed brown, and a quick evaluation with a shovel indicated that the kill had gone clear to the roots.  A controlled burn (after 4pm to comply with Virginia’s 4pm Burn Law) in late April cleaned off the remaining thatch, leaving a seedbed nearly ready for planting.  A second herbicide treatment (12 ounces of imazypic and 16 ounces of glyphosate per acre) in early May was applied to help eliminate any other vegetation and ensure successful establishment of the native warm season grasses.

Brown: fescue sod treated the previous fall with glyphosate

Green: untreated fescue sod greening up

Black: controlled burn the remove fescue thatch

There are nearly a dozen native warm season grasses that a Virginia landowner could choose to provide beneficial habitat for bobwhite quail—we chose Big Bluestem and Indiangrass. The seed was planted in late May, using a special no-till drill designed to accomodate the fluffy seed.  The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries provided technical assistance.

Once the planting was complete, the waiting process was slow, and my patience was tested.  Despite several long periods without rain, we were fortunate to receive adequate moisture to successfully germinate the stand.  At first, very little top growth as evident, as these seedlings invested their energy in abundant root growth (a physiological feature that helps them resist drought).  In late August, seemingly overnight, the native warm season grasses made significant upward growth, and some of the tallest Big Bluestem and Indiangrass seedheads eventually measured in excess of 6 feet tall. 

Several weeks after planting

After one growing season (Fall 2010)

(It should be noted that these results are not typical, and that many native warm season grass plantings may take two to three growing seasons to achieve the same results.)

Our experience with the incentives offered by Virginia’s Quail Action Plan was positive.  As this stand of native warm season grasses becomes fully established, we have the option to use this forage for grazing or for hay, provided we comply with program guidelines for timing and frequency of haying or grazing.