The bobwhite quail in New Zealand

The bobwhite quail is similar to the grey partridge in the way that it is a gamebird that was introduced for hunting, but failed to establish. Its history in New Zealand, however, is quite different from that of the grey partridge.

The 2010 OSNZ checklist reads, 'Introduced and liberated throughout the North and South Islands (summer 1899-1900) with a second release on the east coast of the North Island (1902). Persisted in south Auckland until at least 1922 and possibly in the Wairoa area until 1970'. The rather vague description of their liberation doesn't say how many were released; if they had been released in low numbers, then perhaps this played a role in their not becoming established in the wild.

That aside, it seems that the population of bobwhite quails that was considered 'tick-able' is now long gone.

For some reason, in the NZ publication More Outdoor with rifle and shotgun, published in 1980, the following illustration is included, which clearly depicts a covey of bobwhite quails. The picture is unlabelled, however, and from what I can tell, there is no mention of the species in the book. This means that whether the illustration is meant to be of wild birds or domestic stock cannot be determined. Perhaps it was drawn by someone who was commissioned to illustrate quails, which were meant to be California quails, which are mentioned in the book, but was not told exactly which species of quail he was meant to draw.

Fortunately, unlike the grey partridge, bobwhite quails still exist in captivity in New Zealand, and apparently aren't rare. This means that more recent attempts at introducing them into the wild have been possible.

Morris & Ballance's Beautiful Birds of New Zealand, published in 2006, reads, 'A handful of people are now breeding and releasing bobwhite quail onto pasture around Timaru and Ashburton. The birds are reared in moveable coops. When the time comes the coops are moved to the release site and the doors are opened, allowing the birds to leave in their own time. They can continue to return to the coop, entering and leaving through a port in the roof to safely feed out of reach of predators'. Going by the lack of any records of wild birds seen in either area since that time, though, it seems that nothing ever became of this. Nowhere, however, does the text state that those who were breeding and releasing them actually intended for them to become established in the wild there.

Finally, the 2009 edition of Stuart Chambers' Birds of New Zealand Locality Guide states that some bobwhite quails were seen in Dargaville, Northland, in 2006. Perhaps these records refer to a genuine attempt at establishing the species in the wild there.

In my opinion, the bobwhite quail would certainly be a nice addition to the rural areas of NZ, but it seems that it isn't going to become an established species here any time soon.