HILLSBORO, Ohio — The worst time to be a bobwhite quail in Ohio is from Nov. 7-30. That’s when hunters throughout the state are trying to reach their daily bag limit of four with this fowl.

Perhaps the safest place in the state for these birds is Highland County. That’s because several landowners have gone out of their way to manage habitat for the bobwhite quail. They have been participating in an ongoing habitat and research project in this area of the state.

The project is a joint effort from The Ohio State University, Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife, Pheasants Forever, Quail Forever and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The mission was to see what type of habitat quail prefer and then implement programs to literally put their habitat on the ground.

“The habitat gives the birds someplace to go,” said Barb Bauer, farm bill biologist at the Pheasants Forever office in Highland County. “The numbers are low now and we need to increase their number.

“Right now there’s not enough quails being hunted, mainly because there’s not enough birds. The critical time for these birds is in the winter and we need to provide them with cover. They’re mostly decimated by avian predators.”

As of now, there are 20 farmers at two sites in Highland County engaged in this quail habitat effort. Starting in 2008 phase one of the project involved OSU research students spending many hours in the field following radio-marked bobwhite quail across farms to identify exactly what type of habitat the birds call home.

Phase two, based on phase one findings, included cutting and leaving trees along the woodland edges of participating farms. This practice is referred to as “Edge Feathering.” The feathering creates brushy habitat; quail in the vicinity of these brushy areas will periodically use them for protection, especially during the winter months.

“Edge feathering involves taking the mature edge of a woods, cutting some trees down and treating stumps so they don’t grow back too quickly,” Bauer said. “This way the vegetation comes back naturally, and by leaving the cut trees on the ground it becomes instant cover. Quail can’t handle tight brush piles, but with cut trees they are able to hide adequately, yet fly out of it when needed.”

The next phase of the project will expand upon the amount of grassland nesting habitat on the farms in the Highland County study area. Some of the landowners that have already been part of the research and edge feathering are preparing to plant native grass and flower mixtures. These will create a flowery grassy edge providing the plant structure quail need for nest building and raising young.

“Ohio forests have gotten too mature, so we’re trying to scale things back so they can have cover such as ragweed and briars,” Bauer explained. “Ragweed is one of the quail’s favorite foods. When you take an area and open it up to sunlight it will produce natural feed banks, this way the habitat for quail will come back automatically.

“Quail are not on the endangered species list, but their numbers keep falling. We’re just trying to lend them a helping hand.” Landowners on participating farms will get funding assistance from the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and the Edge Feathering project to implement grassland habitat restoration efforts.