SEQSG Publishes the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative
The Southeast Quail Study Group Technical Committee, an arm of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (SEAFWA), published theNorthern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI), a landscape-scale habitat restoration and population recovery plan for the northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus).
NBCI was developed at the charge of the SEAFWA directors, in recognition of (1) the continuing serious decline of bobwhite populations across most of the species’ range, and (2) the necessity for large-scale coordinated, collaborative action at the regional level. The NBCI plan can be found on the PUBLICATIONSpage.
The plan focuses on population and habitat objectives needed to achieve the overall goal of recovering bobwhite densities to 1980 levels on remaining improvable portions of the landscape. The plan’s building blocks are the Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs) developed for and utilized by the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI).
The intent of the BCR-based structure is to facilitate seamless integration of bobwhite habitat restoration efforts with those for migratory songbirds, and other wildlife that share the bobwhite’s habitats. The SEQSG and the SEAFWA directors anticipate mutual cooperation and collective action by bobwhite and songbird advocates ultimately will result in more effective and more substantial habitat restoration efforts for all early successional species.
