The following schedule is from the 72nd Annual Conference of the Southeastern Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies which was held October 21-24, 2018 in Mobile, Alabama.
AUTHORS: Sarah M. Brown, Steven E. Hayslette – Tennessee Tech University
ABSTRACT: Stocking of pen-raised northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) into natural habitat is a common management strategy for the species, as is supplemental feeding of milo/sorghum (Sorghum vulgare) to wild bobwhites. Milo may be deficient in minerals compared to native seeds, however, leading to negative effects on bobwhites eating only milo. Additionally, pen-raised bobwhites may be reluctant to eat native seeds. We studied the effects of a milo diet on pen-raised northern bobwhites during the non-breeding season, and we tested the hypothesis of mineral deficiency in this diet. We also studied use and selection of native seeds by pen-raised northern bobwhites, and we tested the hypothesis that exposure to a cultivated seed (milo) diet improves the willingness of pen-raised bobwhites to eat native seeds. Bobwhites maintained body mass on a milo-only diet. A milo-only diet may be deficient in minerals, however, as the break-even point (milo consumption point at which body mass is stable) was lower for bobwhites on a milo diet supplemented with powdered mineral supplement, and mass gain at a given milo intake was higher for mineral-supplemented birds. Pen-raised bobwhites with no experience with a seed diet ate only small amounts (= 16 cm3) of native seeds over a 48-hr period, even when no other foods were available; bobwhites with experience eating a milo diet ate twice as much. Bobwhites preferred common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) over partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata) and Illinois bundleflower (Desmanthus illinoensis). Unwillingness to eat native seeds may limit survival of pen-raised bobwhites stocked into the wild.
