MDWFP outlines habitat changes behind Mississippi bobwhite decline

The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks said the Northern Bobwhite’s familiar call, once common across Mississippi, has become less prevalent as the habitat supporting the bird has declined.

The department said abundant bobwhite populations were once an unintended result of early settlers’ land-management practices. Small family farms, pastures, field edges and fence rows created a mix of grasses, forbs and shrubs that provided nesting, feeding and cover habitat.

Changes in agriculture and forestry caused much of that habitat to disappear, according to the department. The decline of early-successional habitat, reduced use of prescribed fire and the spread of non-native grasses have contributed to declining bobwhite populations across Mississippi and the Southeast.

The department said maintaining native grasses, forbs and scattered shrubs, along with management practices such as prescribed fire and disking, can help provide the diverse habitat the birds need. It described conservation of the Northern Bobwhite as beginning with conservation of the habitat that supports it.

Source: Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks.