In response to a current perception in West Texas that the long-accepted habitat/precipitation paradigm may no longer adequately explain bobwhite population fluctuations, privately funded studies at Texas universities are testing a hypothesis that non-habitat factors such as diseases and parasites might play an influential role in the Rolling Plains region of Texas. Those studies—led by the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch—are under the umbrella moniker of “Operation Idiopathic Decline”… “idiopathic” meaning “the doctor doesn’t know.” For more information, click HERE for an overview of the project, and HERE for a brief summary of the first year of data.
