Wild California Quail Coop Construction (birds, windows, cold, wildlife)

[rifleman]

We have a healthy population of wild California Quail here on our property in south central Washington State. The heavy-snow winter weather this season has been difficult for these birds and I'm wondering about constructing some sort of basic coop to slip under the big bushes on our acreage where they hole up every night under some dense bushes. I know they just bunch up in a huddled mass to try to keep warm against the winds and drifting snows. Temps have been down in the 5? - 12? F range this past few weeks.

I've considered building a low (6 - 8" inside height) flat-roofed structure about 3 - 4 feet square with a sheet of 1" industrial styrofoam sheet under the 1/4" plywood floor. I assume there would have to be a couple or three ways in/out (escape routes in case a weasel or racoon or feral cat tried to get at them).

Of course artificially helping them out like this will result in a doubling of their population numbers by mid-summer, and it's already at about 80 birds, up from 45 the year before. I'm running out of names!

Any ideas? Comments? Plans? Success or failure stories? Any ideas will be appreciated.

[Woof Woof Woof!]

Are you going to eat them?

[leorah]

My dad was a wildlife rehabilitation expert and he was a proponent of brushpiles for winter habitat. Dense brushpiles have open spaces that provide shelter while making it difficult for larger predators to get to the animals sheltering inside. We currently have two large brushpiles that quail and songbirds use during the winter. Our property has deciduous hardwoods, so we pile leaves on the brush for insulation.

If you have evergreens, I think mounding some evergreen branches over some hardwood branches or even a constructed platform would be great cover. I'd try to keep the location near to where they are currently roosting, since they are apparently comfortable with the escape options there. I don't know whether the quail would feel safe in an open coop-type structure. I think they might be too exposed to predators. I also see quail hanging out in our blackberry/raspberry thicket; it's pretty dense. I keep meaning to clear it out but never get around to it.

I found this on the web, and it may be helpful: http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/Documents/259.pdf

[rifleman]

Yeah, they were quite happy here until recently when the landowner next to us burned a big brush pile on his property, right next to ours, which weas created when an old and rotting hardwood tree fell down last fall. I saw the birds regularly entering and exiting that habitat, and realized it was ideal. But this guy, a process farmer who is big on land use efficiency, is also a bit hard on the local wildlife, such as quail. Not his concern, right?

The use of some evergreen branches is good. I was thinking of a sort of solid sided low-height box with 3 or 4 corner exists with tunnel type entranceways to prevent cats or? from reaching or slipping in.

The draped foliage may be a "quick and easy" solution. Thanks!

And, yup, the ones that fly into my big windows, despite my "raptor" shadow silhouettes, do end up as "quail l'orange", stuffed with apples and wild rice. (I DID feed 'em, after all, and that's not cheap!)

But mostly I'm taking care of the little cuties, and witnessing a big population explosion annually because of it! As I've said, I'm runnin' out of names!

[canibeyou]

No real advise... just hope they have a safe winter. We have lots of California quail here too. Love how cute they look when they run.

Bless you for wanting to help them out!

[dreamhunter65]

Try the natural habitat. Christmas tree's that have been dumped would help alot if can get them. I am in Wisconsin and our birds when real cold dive into snow banks to keep warm or brush piles. Feed away from the habitat houses you decide to make though so predators not figure out the night time areas.