Bobscapes Putting Citizen Science to Work

There aren’t many sounds a person can hear as immediately recognizable and iconic as the whistle of the bobwhite quail. Whether it’s in a savannah in the southeast, the prairie grasses and farms of the Midwest or a cattle ranch in Texas, that call perks up the ears of every upland hunter and grasslands enthusiast. The Bobscapes app is using the latest technology to turn those calls into data which can help drive research into population distribution and what conservation practices will have the greatest positive impact on upland birds.

The Bobscapes app allows users to mark the location of where they are hearing bobwhites on both public and private land. That data is sent to the University of Georgia G.A.M.E Lab, led by Dr. James Martin in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service Working Lands for Wildlife and Dr. Jess McGuire at Quail Forever. Location data is not available to the public, but individuals wanting to see their own recorded data can make information requests.

This project is based on a similar app piloted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to help their state agency get better data on why quail have declined in Florida and how they can best target their efforts to bolster the population.

“We are deploying a variety of tools in the field to help us better understand how quail are distributed across the landscape,” says Dr. McGuire, who is the director of applied science for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. “While in-person counts and autonomous recording units are already a core part of our quail monitoring efforts, Bobscapes makes it possible for anyone to contribute to bobwhite research. Birders, upland hunters and landowners alike can easily contribute. Getting the public involved is a vital part of filling in the gaps in our knowledge so we can make the best, science informed management strategies being put on the ground.”

Participants have already submitted thousands of entries. One entrant said, “We have a grassland project here and the quail population has been growing the last few years.” Other entrants have noted specific habitat features, shared how quail habitat work has helped bring back greater bobwhite numbers in their area and one entrant said, “I’ll do whatever it takes to increase the quail population.” Some users have requested technical assistance through the app and have been connected with wildlife professionals in their area.

While it may seem obvious, a consistent comment throughout the entries was seeing bobwhite using property that is enrolled in habitat programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). These programs offer financial and technical assistance to landowners who want to incorporate conservation practices such as planting native warm season grasses, pollinator plots, field borders and other quail friendly practices into their ag operation or wildlife management plan. Quail Forever biologists and partners can help landowners learn more about how they can enroll acres into these programs, offer technical assistance and connect them with other local resources.

Anyone who cares about our grasslands and uplands birds is encouraged to contribute their sightings of wild bobwhite quail to the database. Learn more about the Bobscapes app and how it’s contributing to Bobwhite conservation here.