[Birdtalk] Bobwhite Near Willard Bay

[kristinpurdy at comcast.net]

Kent and Beth,

Interesting bird out west of Willard Bay. I wish I had seen it, too. 

Northern Bobwhites were released throughout the 1900s in Utah in an attempt to establish them as an additional game bird species just as Chukars, Gray Partridges and others were. However, the Northern Bobwhite releases were never proven to be successful. (Sidebar: the Gray Partridge introductions throughout the state weren't successful either. Our Gray Partridge population is believed to have become established from birds that strayed over the borders from successful Idaho and Nevada introductions.)

An introduced population of Northern Bobwhites thrives along the Oregon-Idaho-Washington state border area and near Puget Sound. 

Northern Bobwhites still turn up every once in awhile in Utah, likely from captive breeding efforts. This past winter I was birding Ogden Valley with Wasatch and Great Salt Lake Audubon. We were watching a feeder when a man from across the street joined us. He mentioned that he had recently seen several bobwhites under the feeder. I was dubious at his report and subversively tried to test him with the question, "Did they have a plume on their heads?" He looked at me like I was an alien who had a plume on HER head. His incredulous reply was "Do you know what bird I'm talking about?!?"

My trick didn't work too well. The man was very familiar with the bobwhite from days in Arkansas. His report made me believe someone in Ogden Valley breeds Northern Bobwhites.

Kris
-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "Kent Cottam" <kent_bethcottam at msn.com> 

> Some friends and I visited the area west of Willard Bay that Kris described 
> earlier on Sat. (sorry i'm a little slow with the post). We had some great 
> briding. On the dirt road which runs parallel to the dick we saw a Northern 
> Bobwhite. We were wondering if this could have been a released game bird as 
> we did notice some duck hunting club signs. Does anyone know of anything 
> more about it? It looked like Kris was in the same area on Sunday but 
> didn't mention it in her post. Any thoughts or comments? 
> 
> P.S. Thanks for letting us in on a great new place to bird! 
> 
> 
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