The Rise & Fall of Texas Quail

For many Texans, quail are more of a memory than a present reality. Ask anyone who hunted in the 1970s and early ’80s, and they’ll tell you coveys were common across big stretches of the state. So how did a bird once so abundant become so scarce in much of Texas today?

The Rise

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department began its quail surveys in 1978 to track bird populations across the state. To complete these surveys, biologists drive the same 20-mile routes each summer and record every quail they see or hear along the way. In those first years, a typical survey in West Texas turned up close to 20 quail, and South Texas wasn’t far behind with counts in the mid-teens. Those kinds of numbers meant quail were still a regular part of the landscape, and researchers estimate that the statewide population measured in the tens of millions.

Through the early 1980s, Texas supported one of the nation’s largest quail-hunting communities. Harvests rose and fell with rainfall, but when conditions were right, hunters could count on strong coveys across farmland and rangeland alike. Even in leaner years, the birds were common enough to keep hunters in the field.

The Fall

From that starting point in the late 1970s, the decline has been steady and sharp. By the 2010s, many survey routes that once turned up a dozen or more quail were recording fewer than one bird across the full 20 miles. In West Texas, averages fell to barely three birds per route in 2023. South Texas slipped into the single digits, and in East Texas quail have all but disappeared, with surveys in that region often recording no birds at all. Surveys that once captured the sound and sight of multiple coveys now often come back empty. Statewide, wildlife biologists estimate quail numbers have fallen by 70 to 85 percent since those first counts.

The causes are layered and connected. Parasites are widespread, with studies showing that more than nine out of ten wild quail in Texas carry infections like eyeworms or cecal worms. While not always fatal, the heavy loads weaken birds already under stress. Fire ants are another factor. In Texas field studies, quail nests in areas treated for fire ants were more than a third more successful than nests in untreated areas. Weather magnifies these pressures. Quail have always lived with cycles of boom and bust, but in modern Texas, droughts, heat waves, and hard freezes wipe out hatches more completely. Without abundant habitat to soften the blow, recoveries are smaller and slower.

Where They Stand Now

Even after decades of decline, quail have shown they can still bounce back when conditions align. In 2024, after a string of poor years, surveys in West Texas rebounded to more than 16 birds per route, thanks to timely rains and better cover. The Trans-Pecos region continues to hold strong numbers of scaled quail, with counts rivaling or even exceeding long-term averages. These rebounds show that the capacity for recovery is still there—but only where habitat and rainfall support it.

That’s why much of today’s effort focuses on management. Farms and ranches that maintain brush, preserve native grasses, and leave room for forbs and insects continue to hold birds. Researchers are tracking parasite loads and testing treatments, while landowners experiment with fire ant control, prescribed fire, and adaptive grazing. Each of these efforts matters, but together they point to the same conclusion: quail need a diverse, healthy landscape if they’re going to make it.

The story of the Texas quail is one of both loss and persistence. Numbers are far below what they were when TPWD began counting in 1978, but the species has proven it can rebound quickly under the right conditions. Whether quail remain a part of Texas hunting for the next generation depends on how much of that habitat—and how much of that opportunity—we’re willing to protect.