Restoration Efforts Help Quadruple Quail Population in Nanticoke River Wildlife Management Area
June 4, 2025 
Quail habitat on the Nanticoke River Wildlife Management Area. Photo by Rachael Pacella, Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
The softball-sized, onomatopoeically-named bobwhite quail needs four things in its habitat: a place to nest and raise its young, a place to hide from predators, a place with food, and a place for the winter.
A century ago it was easy to find all four. By a decade ago, it was almost impossible. The groundbird’s early morning “poor, bob-white” calls that have long been a fixture of rural life were fading.
But today, quail are calling once again in the Nanticoke River Wildlife Management Area in Wicomico County, thanks to habitat restoration by the Maryland Wildlife and Heritage Service.
Wild Turkey and Upland Game Bird Project Manager Bob Long is leading the department’s efforts to restore quail in Maryland. In addition to making improvements on public lands, Long and private groups such as Chesapeake Bay Quail Forever are encouraging private property owners to make quail-friendly improvements.
Northern bobwhite quail. Photo by Rachel Rahm, submitted to the 2023 Maryland DNR Photo Contest.
Overall, quail have declined more than 90% in Maryland since the 1950s. A reduction in large predators through the centuries allowed smaller predators such as raccoons and foxes to thrive — bad news for the prey of those small predators, quail included.
Farming practices have also changed over time, as there are fewer small farms and more large farms on Delmarva, which tend to use every inch of land for crop production, which leaves limited space for the scrub and brush habitat where quail…
