Nature Center Releases Final Batch Of Quail For The Year In Montauk

The Third House Nature Center released its fifth and last batch of northern bobwhite quail for the 2018 season at Eddie Ecker Park in Montauk on Sunday, with folks circled around a crate filled with 30 small and feisty birds ready to soar.

The initiative to repopulate the quail ecosystem in Montauk started this spring. For years, the quail population has faced a steep decline. Once a common sight in Montauk, bobwhite quail are now a rarity.

According to Ed Johann, president of Third House Nature Center, quail have historically occupied an important niche in Montauk’s ecosystem. Quail provide a food source for foxes and larger birds.

It is believed that the decline in quail may have something to do with the skyrocketing tick population, as quail are keen consumers of ticks, and fewer quail could mean more ticks.

The Third House Nature Center project began with the purchase of an incubator and 180 eggs, some of which were hatched by Montauk School students in Todd Brunn’s science class. Quail are incubated for the first couple of weeks and then moved outdoors in order to acclimate them before being released to the wild, typically at about 12 weeks.

According to the Third House Nature Center, the survival rate of the bobwhite quail is low—perhaps as low as 10 percent—due to predation and other factors.

The repopulating initiative will continue for five years as quail are released throughout county parks.

“Hopefully, these birds will form the basis for a long-term population,” Mr. Johann said before unlatching the crate and freeing the juvenile birds into their natural habitat.