Late-Fall and Early-Winter Food Habits of Bobwhite Quail in Missouri

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Abstract
Data obtained from the analysis of 5,472 crops of bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) collected from 102 of Missouri''s 114 counties during the hunting seasons of 1940 and 1941 were analyzed according to zoogeographic and plant regions of the State, with a statewide summary. Statistical calculations were made to determine the size of sample required to represent quail food habits accurately. Possible causes for marked variation in the utilization of certain plant foods are considered. The study revealed vegetable items of 302 spp. comprising 97.6% by volume of the food consumed, while 70 animal groups made up the remaining 2.4%. Principal foods are listed as percentages by volume and occurrence. Only 15 foods occurred as 1% or more in the bobwhite''s diet and comprised 83.3% of the total volume. They were: Korean lespedeza (Lespedeza stipulacea), 17A%; corn (Zea mays), 16.8%; ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiaefolia), 12.7%; sorghum cane (Sorghum vulgare), 12.1%; oaks (Quercus spp.). 6.6%; sassafras (Sassafras albidum), 2.9%; soybean (Gly-cine max), 2.6%; beggar''s ticks (Desmodium spp.), 2.3%; small wild bean (Strophostyles pauciflora), 1.8%; croton (Croton monanthogynus), 1.7%; yellow foxtail grass (Setaria lutescens), 1.5%; trailing wild bean (Strophostyles helvola), 1.4%; ashes (Fraxinus spp.), 1.3%; Japanese clover (Lespedeza striata), 1.1%; and hogwort (Croton capitatus), 1.1%.

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