RFI: Brown Quail south of Auckland
Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2018 8:22 am
Hi all,
While I'm aware of the handful of Brown Quail records from Miranda in recent years and the bird Tim flushed near Matata a wee while ago, I'm wondering if anyone can shed more light on the continued presence of Brown Quail elsewhere in its southern/former North Island range. The most updated Heather & Robertson guide still shows them occurring from Mokau/Napier north while Scofield/Stephenson take a more conservative approach displaying isolated (but still widespread) populations in the Coromandel, Rotorua, and East Cape regions (this appears to be based on atlas data which wrapped up in 2004). Does anyone know how robust any of these populations are or are these range maps based on one-off incidental encounters?
Over the past few years I've tried a lot of playback and dawn/dusk point counts in all these area in what I seem to be suitable habitat--not a single Brownie yet. Hoping to get into some more back country around the East Cape and Hawkes Bay again this summer so if anyone has any leads on where these birds are, that would be appreciated. This also includes any known Brown Quail sites on the Coromandel or Bay of Plenty area.
Also interested in California Quail in the Gisborne District if anyone knows about them.
Thanks for humouring me (I assure you I'm interested in natives too!)
Russ C
Morrinsville, NZ
While I'm aware of the handful of Brown Quail records from Miranda in recent years and the bird Tim flushed near Matata a wee while ago, I'm wondering if anyone can shed more light on the continued presence of Brown Quail elsewhere in its southern/former North Island range. The most updated Heather & Robertson guide still shows them occurring from Mokau/Napier north while Scofield/Stephenson take a more conservative approach displaying isolated (but still widespread) populations in the Coromandel, Rotorua, and East Cape regions (this appears to be based on atlas data which wrapped up in 2004). Does anyone know how robust any of these populations are or are these range maps based on one-off incidental encounters?
Over the past few years I've tried a lot of playback and dawn/dusk point counts in all these area in what I seem to be suitable habitat--not a single Brownie yet. Hoping to get into some more back country around the East Cape and Hawkes Bay again this summer so if anyone has any leads on where these birds are, that would be appreciated. This also includes any known Brown Quail sites on the Coromandel or Bay of Plenty area.
Also interested in California Quail in the Gisborne District if anyone knows about them.
Thanks for humouring me (I assure you I'm interested in natives too!)
Russ C
Morrinsville, NZ