The Return of the Quail: How Conservation Efforts are Bringing Back a Once-Extinct Bird in Pennsylvania

Over the next three years, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the University of Delaware and other partners will release about 100 northern bobwhite quail per year on Letterkenny Army Depot in southern Pennsylvania. The birds have been considered eradicated for at least 20 years in the area. 

Chris Williams, a professor of wildlife ecology and the director of the Waterfowl and Upland Gamebird Center, is the lead investigator on the project.

“When we think about the greater concerns about wildlife biodiversity and conservation and changing environments, to see extinctions occur in such a short time frame is scary,” Williams said. “And it’s really exciting when we can take chances to try to find a way to bring them back and make sure it’s a long term success.”

The researchers hope to help the state’s quail population rebound and evaluate what can be learned from how they acclimate and apply it to similar projects. Two University of Delaware graduate students will work with the researchers to study the quail reintroduction and how songbirds at the site react to it. Each bird has been equipped with a radio transmitter so the researchers can track their movement and survival on the landscape.

More than 70 bobwhite quail have been released at the site in recent weeks, including the release of 50 bobwhite quail during a March 19 event.

Jeffrey Buler, a professor of wildlife ecology and the co-principal investigator on the project, said other bird species are also an important focus of this project.

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