11/05/2025
COVEY CONNECTION | Northern Bobwhite Annual Lifecycle
𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗕𝗼𝗯𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗲?
Winter - Northern Bobwhite are still in coveys (average 10-12 birds).
Spring - Coveys break up. Pair bonding and nesting begins. This is when you start hearing the male's "Bob-White" call.
Summer - Birds are still nesting, but most have hatched their first broods.
Fall - Nesting has wrapped up. Fall shuffle begins and coveys start to form. This is when you would hear the "Koi-Lee" call (aka the covey call).
𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗕𝗼𝗯𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.
❄ Bobwhite need ample overhead cover, shrubby cover and a variety of seed sources. Winter can be a harsh time for Bobwhite, and cover and food can be scarce.
🌱Bobwhite need a variety of native grasses and forbs. Coveys have broken up, and pair bonding begins. Towards the end of Spring, Bobwhite begin nesting. Bobwhite will nest in native bunchgrass clumps typically utilizing last year's dead materials.
☀️Bobwhite need an area with high forb diversity which in turn attracts soft bodied insects for growing chicks. Adults will select areas with overhead cover and sparse understory vegetation to allow chicks to safely forage. Since the summer heat is brutal, it is important to have ample escape/thermal cover.
🍂Bobwhite need an abundance of seeds from native forbs, shrubs, and even pine trees! As fall progresses, insects will become scarce. In the late summer to early fall, birds from different broods begin to intermix and form coveys. The coveys will be on the lookout for covey headquarters (large shrubby thicket).
If you are interested in managing your property for Northern Bobwhite, you need to support them for their entire annual lifecycle.
"In the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught." - Baba Dioum, 1968
