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BRN identifies seeds from quail crops to strengthen wildlife habitat
- Cody Calamaio
- Aug 4
- 3 min read
Since 2018, BRN has been working to restore and enhance habitat for the Montezuma quail using native seed and erosion control techniques. So when a local hunter sent us the crops—a pouch in the upper digestive tract—from 50 quail, we were excited to investigate what these birds were eating to better inform our work.
“Quail are a great poster child for native plants because they only eat very specific things,” said Francesca Claverie, BRN’s Native Plant Program Director. “Baby quail imprint on what their parents show them to eat.”
The Montezuma quail (Also known as the Mearns quail) are ground-nesting birds with a narrow distribution range in the Madrean oak woodlands of Southern Arizona. The quail are very dependent upon native plants for both food and habitat, which has been dwindling due to decreased rainfall, overgrazing, and urbanization. Quail play an important role in the ecosystem of the borderlands as both seed dispersers and a prey source for larger mammals.
In order to help address these challenges, BRN has been working alongside our partners to take a multi-faceted approach to restoring quail habitat to ensure that this important species survives. Thanks to funding from Southern Arizona Quail Forever and the National Forest Foundation, we have dedicated several farm plots at Borderlands Nursery & Seed for growing native plants specifically for quail habitat.
Quail have a pouch (known as the “crop”) along their esophagus that stores and moistens food before it moves into their stomach for digestion. BRN received the contents of the crops from 50 Montezuma quails from a local hunter and planted those seeds in nursery pots to watch them sprout in order to identify exactly what types of plants these quails were eating.
L: The seeds and mixed contents of quail crops; R: sprouted seed growing into mystery plants.
Mystery plants sprouted from quail crop seeds ready for identification.
The BRN team sprouted approximately 800 plants from the batch of quail crops. Some of the plants were quickly identified as a common variety of amaranth or invasive species like Johnson grass. But many of the young plants required a more thorough botanical investigation, aided by SEINet, to identify their species.
Our team identified many different varieties of plants including Tepary Beans (Phaseolus acutifolius) Southwestern Cupgrass (Eriochloa acuminata) Wheelscale Saltbush (Atriplex elegans), Woodsorrel (Oxalis latifolia) and lots of amaranth — which we decided not to replant because it is already abundant!
Native plants also play a vital role in preventing erosion because the roots help to slow water and retain topsoil, increasing soil moisture to help seedlings get established while recharging the groundwater. BRN processes the seeds from native plants into seed pellets (to help them germinate) and distributes them in erosion control structures in the Huachuca Mountains to help heal the degraded landscape and increase habitat for quail and other species.
Erosion control structures built in the Huachuca Mountains
BRN’s programs work together to spread awareness about issues facing the borderlands and invite the community to actively participate in its revival. Our work restoring quail habitat has engaged a range of volunteers as well as interns from the Borderlands Earth Care Youth (BECY) program. By working alongside experienced restoration practitioners, BECY interns gained valuable knowledge and skills, and fostered a sense of responsibility and connection to the natural world.
“To date, our field team has built more than a thousand erosion control structures in the Huachucas and one of the most rewarding parts of this work has been returning to these sites and seeing how quickly they respond,” said Sarah Colombo, Watershed Restoration Program Director. “Seeing sediment accumulate, water linger longer, and native vegetation grow is a powerful reminder of what these simple techniques can accomplish.”
