Dr. Lovett
In the area of Tennessee that I live, Bobwhite Quail were always very plentiful during my early years (1950s-1980s). The quail population for the last couple of decades has declined drastically. This is the same time period in which the turkey was reintroduced to my area and has grown dramatically in numbers. Most of our biologist blame the quail decline on everything from habitat decline to predation. I've also heard it blamed on hawks, house cats and turkeys. The claim about the turkeys is that since the introduction of the turkeys, the quail population has gone down as the turkey population has gone up. It has been speculated that if feeding turkeys find a quail nest that they will eat the quail eggs as well as any baby quail they can catch. I know that turkeys are omnivores but can they have any impact on the quail or ground nesting bird population? Have there ever been any studies that show that turkeys eat bird eggs or baby birds?
Nimrodmar10,
Turkeys are not to blame. H. L. Stoddard, the authority bobwhite quail, once wrote that turkeys do baby quail but that's not reason why quail numbers so low. It's habitat.