A new group of Californians is moving to Texas to help the environment and economy.

A group of researchers at Texas A&M Commerce are introducing the California valley quail to Texas to help the state’s bird hunters deal with the declining population of bobwhite quail. The birds are getting a heartfelt howdy, as this weekend marks the beginning of quail hunting season.

Research led by Kelly Reyna shows that bobwhite quail in Texas have declined by 80 percent in the past 50 years. These native quail do not fare well in the face of expanding residential areas and increased agriculture. But California valley quail are more resilient, and they could replenish Texas’ dwindling quail population.

As part of the research, Reyna and his team successfully transferred 250 wild California valley quail last spring from Idaho to Texas. They fitted many of the birds with radio trackers and located them weekly for monitoring. California valley quail already have been successfully introduced all over the world, including in New Zealand, Argentina, Hawaii and British Columbia.

In a recent interview Reyna said, “Quail populations in Texas have been declining since at least the 1800s. The part of Texas that has been hit the hardest is northeast Texas, were little to no quail exist today. The loss of quail populations results in the loss of quail hunters in the area, who fund quail conservation. Less funding means less conservation and the downward spiral continues.”

He said: “One quail species that has not declined in the United States is the California valley quail, a game bird that’s been translocated successfully across the world. If California valley quail could be successfully established in Texas, which we are researching as part of our California Quail Project at Texas A&M Commerce, then we could eventually bring back the quail hunter in that area.”

He added that a recent economic impact study conducted by Texas at A&M showed that an average quail hunter spends about $8,000 per year and is willing to spend about $250 per bird when hunting. These dollars go to license, guns, ammunition, lodging, food and supplies purchased at the hunter’s place of origin, along the travel route, and in and around the hunting destination. The money has a direct positive impact on local economies, from home to hunt, giving quail hunting a strong economic impact.

According to Realtree Camo, upland hunting generates about $2.4 billion annually in the U.S. and more quail will directly translate to more economic gain. Plus, some of the federal tax on hunting supplies is returned to the state for the sole purpose of quail conservation. Reyna notes that while there are about 200,000 upland bird hunters in Texas, not all hunt quail. He sites a 2006 report that pegs the economic impact of upland bird hunting in the Lone Star state at $144 million.

The researchers believe the newly transplanted quail species will find the Texas to its liking.

“California quail populations range from hot arid portions of Mexico all the way up to Canada,” Reyna said. ”They can tolerate a wide range of climates and do well in areas with a diversity of high protein seeds. Portions of northeast Texas where large parcels of quail habitat remain, which have bushes and trees for roosting, are fantastic target areas for California quail translocations. As part of our research, we are also evaluating how California quail respond to high heat stress in the egg, a critical time in their life history when they can’t escape the heat.

“The number of chicks produced in a population each year depends on the climate. Generally speaking, in Texas where you have large acreages of good habitat and plenty of mating quail, chicks will be produced when it rains in the spring and periodic rains buffer the high heat in the summer. The buffered heat ignites mating and improves hatching. California quail can have up to 28 eggs in the nest which means a lot of boom in good years. With no spring or summer rains, as in a drought year, few to no chicks are produced and the quail population typically declines by over 50 percent,” he said.

He added that the population is expected to grow in about the same ratio as a bobwhite population. Both species are dependent on a successful hatch year to persist and one aspect of the research is looking at how California quail develop in the egg compared to bobwhites, and how that contributes to a successful hatch.

The heartbeat of Texas quail hunters increases rapidly at the distinctive sound (bob-white) of the bobwhite quail. Plus, the coloration of bobwhites is well-known to any upland bird hunter. If all goes as planned, the look and call of the California valley quail will be accompanied by that same adrenaline spike.

“The California valley quail is a beautiful game bird, with vibrant colors and the classic quail topknot,” Reyna said. “Their song and many calls are quite different from bobwhites. The main song of the male is quite nostalgic as the three notes sound like an ah-ooo-ga horn. Their alarm call is a pip-pip. They run hard and fly fast like our native quail, they make for good dog work, and are a ton of fun to hunt. Some significant biological advantages that the California quail possess are that they roost in trees rather than on the ground, which reduces predation, and their diet consists mainly of seeds and vegetation instead of relying on many insects like our native birds.”

He said: “California quail are very social birds and range in coveys of up to 100 birds. They stay mostly on the ground to forage, roosting in trees at night, and only fly in short bursts to escape predation. This means they give your dogs a great opportunity on the ground, luckily not running as much as Blue quail [found in far West Texas], and give the hunter great opportunity in the air, as they flush hard and fly fast when directly encountered.”

The California valley quail are in East Texas and seem to be flourishing.

This interview was conducted and condensed by Art Young, editor of The Outpost Magazine, for The Dallas Morning News.