Wildlife Protection

Keeping It Simple: Easy Ways to Help Wildlife Along Roads

Bringing back quail with native grasses

In Virginia, bobwhite quail have got a new lease on life, thanks to a little bit of proactive planting by the Virginia Department of Transportation. The quail nest in tall native grasses that emerge in warm weather, but with increased development throughout the state, these grasses are often replaced with uninhabitable short turf grass. Since the birds can't survive in short grass, their population has been steadily declining. So tall, warm-season grasses have been planted in large open spaces near roadside interstates - spaces where there is plenty of land on which to nest and forage. In spring and summer it's a common sight to see bobwhites flocking to these spaces.

--Apr 25, 2003

Laura Southard, (804) 786-6458 or Laura.Southard@VDOT.Virginia.gov

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo

Bobwhite quail

Along Roads - Virginia