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Quail & Grassland Bird Initiative
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 For the past 100 years, quail have been an important part of Texas culture and tradition, and their decline is causing serious alarm. Quail serve as an “indicator species,” and their decline is mirroring the regression of many other grassland bird and wildlife populations.
Land fragmentation and land use practices of grassland ecosystems have resulted in the loss of this native vegetation, and increased invasion by undesirable plant species, as well as degradation of soil and water quality.
The primary goal of our Quail & Grassland Bird Initiative is to restore quail to their populations of 30 years ago in areas with recoverable habitat. This goal is aligned with the Texas Quail Conservation Initiative (TQCI) and the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI), along with recovery efforts in other states.
Our Initiative brings together a viable coalition of private landowners, state and federal agencies, conservation professionals, and volunteers. These partnerships have allowed Audubon to establish quail “Co-ops,” cooperative relationships among landowners with contiguous properties. The Co-ops, along with large ranches and Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs), create “conservation corridors” that play a critical role in this recovery and restoration initiative.
To date, Audubon has brought together more than 100 landowners and land managers committing more than 2.8 million acres of Texas grasslands to restoration and conservation.
Audubon partners include:
Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute
Farm Bureau
Dixon Water Foundation
Houston Endowment
Quail Coalition
Texas A&M University
Texas Parks & Wildlife
Texas Wildlife Association
The Nature Conservancy
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Welder Wildlife Foundation
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