The latest in peer-reviewed quail research is now available in a 386-page volume, Quail VII: Proceedings of the Seventh National Quail Symposium. 
Quail VII content is diverse, containing over 80 papers and abstracts—with 27 state and federal agencies, universities and institutes reporting on their work at the Seventh National Quail Symposium in Tucson, Arizona January 9-12, 2012. Geographically, the findings have implications for an area(s) bounded Oregon, Nebraska, New Jersey, and south to Florida and Brazil.
Quail VII covers a multitude of topics, including translocation of mountain quail and northern bobwhite, phylogeography of scaled quail and bobwhites (northern bobwhite, Yucatán bobwhite, spot-bellied bobwhite and crested bobwhite), hybridization of Gambel’s and California quail, Mearns’ (Montezuma) quail, nutrition, arthropods, exotic grasses, the Conservation Reserve Program, predation, parasites, eyeworms, survival, reproduction, thermoregulation, harvest prescriptions, climate change, economics, conservation planning, attitudes of private landowners, etc.
The research also covers a pervasive theme of quail management, pen-reared bobwhites. Two papers describe the actual efficacy of the Surrogator® system, and another describes a groundbreaking advancement, use of prenatal and post-hatch imprinting to improve survival of genetically wild pen-reared bobwhites.
Quail VII has the latest research and management on the endangered masked bobwhite. The masked bobwhite is even closer to extinction than other gallinaceous birds recently in the news, the Gunnison sage grouse and lesser prairie-chicken. Quail VII includes one of the most comprehensive reviews of masked bobwhite habitat and populations to date by species expert David E. Brown, plus the latest on natural and artificial restoration efforts in the USA and Mexico, and a review of effects of invasive grasses on masked bobwhite.
Quail VII also includes executive summaries of both the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative 2.0 (NBCI 2.0) and The Western Quail Plan, ensuring a permanent published record of these ground-breaking initiatives.
The Quail VII volume was made possible by contributions by Arizona Game and Fish Department, National Wild Turkey Federation, Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy, Texas Tech Quail Tech Alliance and Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch.
Copies are available for $40 at https://nbgi.org/donate-2/online-store.
Headquartered at the University of Tennessee, NBCI is a project of the National Bobwhite Technical Committee (NBTC) to elevate bobwhite quail recovery from an individual state-by-state proposition to a range-wide, policy-level leadership endeavor. The committee is comprised of representatives of 25 state fish and wildlife agencies as well as academic research institutions and non-governmental conservation organizations. NBCI is funded by the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, two dozen state wildlife management agencies, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and Southern Company. For more information, please visit www.bringbackbobwhites.org
