Setting the Table for Iowa's Favorite Farmland Birds: Bobwhite Quail and Ring-necked Pheasants

July 17, 2016 2:29 PM

Perhaps no wild birds captivate the imagination of rural Midwesterners as much as the bobwhite quail and ring-necked pheasant. Both species wield an iconic call – the “bob-WHITE” whistle of male bobwhites and the conspicuous crowing of the rooster pheasant. Both species are often visible on a country drive thanks to their affinity for feeding and dusting on crop-field and roadside edges. Both species flock during winter and offer beautiful reprieves from otherwise life-less winter landscapes. Unfortunately though, both species share one more commonality – there are fewer of them in Iowa today than there was throughout most of the 20th century....

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Author(s): 

Adam Janke Associate Professor

Adam Janke is the statewide Wildlife Extension Specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Adam is a trained wildlife biologist, having received a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in wildlife conservation and ecology from three land-grant schools in the Midwest.  He is also certified ...