Bob White Quail (*no pix*)

[DonBo]

My folks live on the Wisconsin side of the Stillwater bridge. They had a quail under their feeder this week. Dad says he saw a bunch of them while turkey hunting a couple weeks ago. I have never seen them this far north. Anyone else?

[Steve Foss]

We always had them on the farm near Prairie du Chein, Wis., when I as growing up, and I saw some several years back near Balsam Lake, Wis., which is a bit north of the latitude of the Twin Cities.

[harvey lee]

Are we talking quail or maybe Huns? Not saying its impossible but its a long ways north for Bobwhites.

[Steve Foss]

Tom, bowhite quail were always calling in the evening along the hillsides of my grandparents' dairy farm in southwestern Wisconsin. This goes back to the 60s, and they were wild birds.

Now, quite a few people raise bobwhites, but the Sibley Guide to Birds shows typical bobwhite range extending well up the Mississippi River Valley as far north as about LaCrosse, and with the much warmer winters we've had in the last 8-10 years (excepting this year), it would be no surprise to see them moving north to latitudes at or above the Twin Cities.

[Dotch]

No doubt Steve. We had bobwhites on our farm near Spring Valley in SE MN when I was a lad. Their habitat has since been degraded and some severe winters made it tough on them. If you read back in Fencelines (shameless self promotion) in August, I had a close encounter with a little male on the edge of a soybean field here in SC MN. They have also been on our farmstead, calling right behind the barn. No one we are aware of has released them for a long time and last year was the 2nd year in a row they have been spotted in our neighborhood. We are a mere 70 - 80 miles from the greater metro area.

[DonBo]

My dad was certain it was a bobwhite and not a hun. The ones he saw while turkey hunting were about 10 miles from his home where the one was spotted under his feeder so probably not from a release, at least not the same release. He lives in a very rural area with plenty of good habitat.

[196thDLR]

We had Northern Bobwhite Quail in our birdfeeders a year ago, but they were from a release by someone I believe. They disappeared sometime in the fall or early winter this year.

[harvey lee]

I will need to watch for them a little closer as I have never seen one anywhere in this state.