More than 100 coveys were reported at Di-Lane in both 1995 and 1996. Last year, there were 29. The major change will be the thinning or cutting of 3,000 acres of the 5,000 acres of woodlands on the historic plantation. As family farms were converted to huge stands of timber during the past 40 years, habitat changes reduced bobwhite quail more than 65 percent, and reduced hundreds of songbird species as well. Today, wildlife managers are rethinking agricultural and timber practices in efforts to preserve ground-level vegetation that provides food, nesting habitat and cover for quail.
Landowners can help promote quail reproduction by leaving fallow borders around fields.
Improved quail habitat might produce less in crops but can generate extra revenues as leased hunting land. Although quail hunting is a fall and winter pastime, the manipulation of crops and habitat in spring and summer is the primary factor in determining whether adequate numbers of quail survive. Bobwhite quail once thrived across the South, and hunting the plump, tasty birds was an enduring, gentlemanly tradition. But during the past 40 years, as family farms vanished and sterile rows of planted pines replaced traditional forests and overgrown fields, bobwhite populations have declined more than 65 percent. A glance at a 1947 aerial photo of Di-Lane Plantation shows mostly fields and plenty of cover.