Writer: Gabe Saldana, 956-408-5040, gabe.saldana@ag.tamu.edu
Contacts: Amanda Gobeli, 720-333-6224, amanda.gobeli@ag.tamu.edu
Dr. Dale Rollins, 325-653-4576, dale.rollins@ag.tamu.edu
MESQUITE – Urban Quail Appreciation Day, May 18, welcomes North Texans around Dallas to learn about what people can do to reverse declining quail populations, organizers said.
The event runs from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Texas Engineering Extension Service OSHA Training Institute Education Center, 15515 Interstate Highway 20, Mesquite.
The appreciation day is held by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas Wildlife Association, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Reversing the Quail Decline in Texas initiative and the Park Cities Quail Chapter of Quail Coalition.
“Quail populations in Texas, especially in North Central Texas, have declined significantly in the last 40 years,” said Dr. Dale Rollins, AgriLife Extension wildlife specialist in San Angelo and executive director of Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation.
Rollins, a featured speaker at the event, said this will be the third in a series of quail appreciation days aimed at informing landowners and quail hunters how to appreciate the impacts of their land management practices on quail abundance.
An interactive discussion on Texas quail will feature
Kirby Quail, a trained northern bobwhite, and his handler, Amanda Gobeli, Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute associate in Dallas.
“People connect with Kirby by interacting with him,” Gobeli said. “That personal experience makes them consider their behaviors a little more closely as they relate to protecting quail like Kirby.”
Urban Quail Appreciation Day will include discussions on quail ecology and management, a guided anatomy lesson, activities to help people “think like a quail” and interactive discussions using Kirby Quail.
Preregistration is $10 by May 11 or $20 thereafter and at the door. Lunch is included. Register at https://bit.ly/2HsI137.
Proceeds for the event benefit Rolling Plains Bobwhite Brigade, organizers said.
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