DAYVILLE – They took off in bursts, the brisk “whirr” of their wings announcing their arrival into the wild.

Forty mountain quail glided April 8 into the brush and juniper at Phillip W. Schneider Wildlife Area, southeast of Dayville and near the South Fork John Day River. Their release marked the continuation of Oregon’s first comprehensive research project on mountain quail.

“Hopefully, we can get some good data this year and keep this project going and look at other parts of the state,” said Greg Jackle, field technician for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Jackle, along with John Day-based ODFW wildlife biologist Darren Bruning and Brooke Easterday of the Forest Service, participated in the release.

Jackle will return to Sisters to monitor a similar quail survey he launched in that area this year. Meanwhile, he and Easterday will maintain surveillance on the released mountain quail in Grant County. They’re aided by tracking equipment that receives signals from radio collars on 20 of the birds.

This year is the third year for the South Fork John Day River mountain quail release. Since 2001, government biologists and private partners have tried to develop information about Eastern Oregon populations of this little-studied species.

A petition to list the mountain quail as deserving of protection under the Endangered Species Act was filed in 2000. The petition was denied, but Oregon Hunters Association and Quail Unlimited agreed to team up with ODFW, the U.S. Forest Service and Oregon State University to attempt a mountain quail relocation. With nearly 500 mountain quail trapped in southwest Oregon, the partners scheduled releases at sites in Grant, Harney and Deschutes counties.

So far, the news appears good.

“I’ve worked over in the Sisters area for the past month, and I’ve seen higher survivability rates than last year,” Jackle said.

Some of this progress stems from hard-learned lessons about weather and predators. Last year, the Grant County release took place in January, when cold weather and hawk predation apparently took a toll. Of 62 radio-collared birds released, monitoring indicated that only 10 survived to nest on public land (the good news is that the 10 paired up with native birds, verifying the existence of a healthy resident population). Three other collared birds survived but without nesting, and two wandered onto private land where they could not be tracked.

Jackle cautioned that monitoring is not a perfect science. Distance of the radio collar signals is limited, and logistics of monitoring involve both rigorous hiking and extensive aerial tracking, due largely to the steep, rough terrain that mountain quail prefer.

The South Fork release site, however, provides a unique opportunity to fill a research void about mountain quail habitat in a broad landscape between the Snake River and the Cascades, Jackle added.

ODFW conducts upland game bird surveys, and results of last year’s survey encouraged Bruning that resident mountain quail in Grant County are rebounding after suffering declines in the 1980s.

“The resident birds are actually doing quite well,” he said.

Bruning said last year’s survey was the first in 15 years or more to yield confirmation of a mountain quail brood, a cluster of young birds.

Hunting of mountain quail is prohibited in Eastern Oregon, with the exception of Klamath and Wallowa counties. But Bruning added, “If the population was ever stable enough, we’d allow some harvest.”

About the release site

Phillip W. Schneider Wildlife Area, where biologists released native Oregon mountain quail, offers bird and big-game viewing all year.

The wildlife area is located near milepost 132 on Highway 26, one-quarter mile east of Dayville, or 30 miles west of John Day. The area is located near the John Day River South Fork. The area is near Black Canyon Wilderness and a hike-in fishery at Aldrich Pond.

Highest concentrations of deer and elk can be seen in the winter and early spring; bighorn sheep viewing during winter and early spring. The wildlife area offers excellent viewing of birds year-round. Hunters can pursue deer and elk during the fall.

For more information, call 575-1167.

About mountain quail

The mountain quail (Oreortyx pictus) is the largest of North American quail species. Its range is most extensive in the Pacific Northwest.

The major mountain quail hunting states are California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington.

The mountain quail inhabits higher elevations where it prefers brush, scrub oaks and thickets. Its tall, thin, slightly backward tilting head plumage is distinctive in both sexes.

The male exhibits chestnut throat coloration. The female is duller. Its call is a whistle or loud, almost crowing, note or soft “whook.”

More familiar in Eastern Oregon is the California quail, the state bird of California. Also known as valley quail, the California quail is found in a wide range of habitats.

The bird prefers mixed woodlands, chaparral and grassy valleys of California, Oregon, Washington and into British Columbia, extending into several bordering states.

The male has a black throat and face bordered by white bands, and a white forehead. The female is duller, and lacks head markings. Both sexes have a forward curving distinctive plume or top knot.