Bird
Northern Bobwhite
Colinus virginianus
Lives in Arkansas all year and nests here. Found in all 75 counties, across 8 habitats.
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 75 counties
- Habitats
- 8

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 75 counties
- Habitats
- 8
- Habitat models
- Year-round
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Arkansas 8
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.
Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone
Open, thin-soil openings and rock on limestone, dolomite or other lime-rich rock, including cedar glades.
Granite and other acidic rock outcrops
Bare or thin-soil rock on granite, gneiss, sandstone, quartzite and similar acidic rock, including granite flatrocks and domes.
Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.
Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Tree plantations and managed pine
Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.
Other habitats in its models (83)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Arkansas. Those recorded in Arkansas first, the rest by region.
In Arkansas 3
- Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Sandhill Oak and Shortleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round.
Elsewhere in the South (39)
- Appalachian Shale Barrens Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Maritime Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Year-round.
- Central and South Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Year-round.
- Central Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Year-round.
- Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Year-round.
- Cumberland Sandstone Glade and Barrens Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Year-round.
- East-Central Texas Plains Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Year-round.
- Edwards Plateau Limestone Savanna and Woodland Year-round.
- Florida Dry Prairie Year-round.
- Mississippi Delta Maritime Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Year-round.
- Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland Year-round.
- South Florida Hardwood Hammock Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- South Florida Pine Rockland Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Year-round.
- Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Blackland Tallgrass Prairie Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Year-round.
- Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Year-round.
- Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Year-round.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Catahoula Barrens Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Year-round.
Northeast (4)
- Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Year-round.
- Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Year-round.
- North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Year-round.
- Northeastern Interior Pine Barrens Year-round.
Midwest (6)
- Central Mixedgrass Prairie Year-round.
- Central Tallgrass Prairie Year-round.
- North-Central Interior Oak Savanna Year-round.
- North-Central Interior Sand and Gravel Tallgrass Prairie Year-round.
- North-Central Oak Barrens Year-round.
- Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Year-round.
Land cover and other classes (31)
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine Modifier Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Year-round.
- Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Year-round.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Year-round.
- Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Year-round.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Year-round.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Year-round.
- Modified/Managed Southern Tall Grassland Year-round.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Year-round.
- Recently Burned Grassland Year-round.
- Recently Burned Shrubland Year-round.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Year-round.
Seasons in Arkansas
- Year-round: nests here, in all 75 counties.
Food plants
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.
Native plants in these genera 454
- Hairy LespedezaLespedeza hirta
- Slender LespedezaLespedeza virginica
- Trailing LespedezaLespedeza procumbens
- Creeping LespedezaLespedeza repens
- Roundhead LespedezaLespedeza capitata
- Tall LespedezaLespedeza stuevei
- Violet LespedezaLespedeza frutescens
- Wand LespedezaLespedeza violacea
- Narrowleaf RushfoilCroton michauxii
- Prairie-tea CrotonCroton monanthogynus
- Croton capitatus var. capitatusCroton capitatus var. capitatus
- Elliptical RushfoilCroton willdenowii
- Lindheimer's CrotonCroton lindheimerianus
- Tooth Leaf Croton; Sand CrotonCroton glandulosus var. septentrionalis
- Tooth-leaved CrotonCroton glandulosus
- Woolly CrotonCroton capitatus
- McCree's MilkpeaGalactia volubilis
- American PlumPrunus americana
- Black CherryPrunus serotina
- Black CherryPrunus serotina var. serotina
- Carolina Laurel CherryPrunus caroliniana
- Chickasaw PlumPrunus angustifolia
- Choke CherryPrunus virginiana
- ChokecherryPrunus virginiana var. virginiana
Plant genera in its diet records (50)
- Lespedeza 18 diet records. 8 native plants in Arkansas
- Croton 15 diet records. 8 native plants in Arkansas
- Sorghum 10 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
- Galactia 9 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
- Prunus 9 diet records. 13 native plants in Arkansas
- Glycine 8 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
- Urochloa 8 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
- Zea 8 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
- Chamaecrista 7 diet records. 4 native plants in Arkansas
- Quercus Seeds. 7 diet records. 31 native plants in Arkansas
- Vigna 7 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
- Geranium 6 diet records. 3 native plants in Arkansas
- Oxalis 6 diet records. 3 native plants in Arkansas
- Sassafras 6 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
- Triticum 6 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
- Ambrosia 5 diet records. 4 native plants in Arkansas
- Digitaria 5 diet records. 2 native plants in Arkansas
- Setaria 5 diet records. 2 native plants in Arkansas
- Panicum 4 diet records. 12 native plants in Arkansas
- Paspalum 4 diet records. 12 native plants in Arkansas
- Physalis Fruit. 4 diet records. 14 native plants in Arkansas
- Rhus 4 diet records. 6 native plants in Arkansas
- Vicia 4 diet records. 3 native plants in Arkansas
- Carex 3 diet records. 144 native plants in Arkansas
- Centrosema 3 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
- Cyperus 3 diet records. 25 native plants in Arkansas
- Desmanthus 3 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
- Diodia 3 diet records. 3 native plants in Arkansas
- Krigia 3 diet records. 7 native plants in Arkansas
- Liquidambar 3 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
- Mimosa 3 diet records. 2 native plants in Arkansas
- Polygonum 3 diet records. 5 native plants in Arkansas
- Rubus 3 diet records. 9 native plants in Arkansas
- Sesbania 3 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
- Zanthoxylum 3 diet records. 2 native plants in Arkansas
- Argemone 2 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
- Celtis Fruit. 2 diet records. 3 native plants in Arkansas
- Commelina 2 diet records. 5 native plants in Arkansas
- Descurainia 2 diet records. 3 native plants in Arkansas
- Desmodium 2 diet records. 18 native plants in Arkansas
- Dichanthelium 2 diet records. 38 native plants in Arkansas
- Helianthus 2 diet records. 15 native plants in Arkansas
- Impatiens 2 diet records. 2 native plants in Arkansas
- Menodora 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
- Pediomelum 2 diet records. 3 native plants in Arkansas
- Rhynchosia 2 diet records. 3 native plants in Arkansas
- Verbena 2 diet records. 8 native plants in Arkansas
- Viola 2 diet records. 17 native plants in Arkansas
- Bidens 1 diet record. 7 native plants in Arkansas
- Strophostyles 1 diet record. 3 native plants in Arkansas
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Arkansas, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Birds 100
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- Greater RoadrunnerGeococcyx californianus
- Interior Least TernSternula antillarum athalassos
- KilldeerCharadrius vociferus
- Least TernSternula antillarum
- Purple MartinProgne subis
- Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- Scissor-tailed FlycatcherTyrannus forficatus
- Smith's LongspurCalcarius pictus
Plants 888
- Maximilian SunflowerHelianthus maximiliani
- Muck SunflowerHelianthus simulans
- Annual FleabaneErigeron annuus
- Canada LettuceLactuca canadensis
- Common Evening-primroseOenothera biennis
- Cutleaf Evening-primroseOenothera laciniata
- Dog-fennelEupatorium capillifolium
- Threadleaf SundropsOenothera linifolia
- Carolina Crane's-billGeranium carolinianum
- Bushy KnotweedPolygonum ramosissimum subsp. prolificum
- Blackeyed SusanRudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima
- Prostrate KnotweedPolygonum aviculare
Prairies and grasslands
Birds 48
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- KilldeerCharadrius vociferus
- Scissor-tailed FlycatcherTyrannus forficatus
- Smith's LongspurCalcarius pictus
- Sprague's PipitAnthus spragueii
- Upland SandpiperBartramia longicauda
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Le Conte's SparrowAmmodramus leconteii
- Long-eared OwlAsio otus
- Painted BuntingPasserina ciris
- Ring-necked PheasantPhasianus colchicus
Plants 187
- Susquehanna CherryPrunus pumila var. susquehanae
- Twistleaf GoldenrodSolidago tortifolia
- Missouri IronweedVernonia missurica
- Rydbergs Blazing StarLiatris hirsuta
- Rough Blazing-starLiatris aspera
- Manyflower Marsh-pennywortHydrocotyle umbellata
- Oklahoma Grass PinkCalopogon oklahomensis
- Purple SandgrassTriplasis purpurea
- Bushy GoldentopEuthamia leptocephala
- Sawtooth SunflowerHelianthus grosseserratus
- Barrens Silky AsterSymphyotrichum pratense
- New England AsterSymphyotrichum novae-angliae
Forest edges and thickets
Birds 56
- Spotted TowheePipilo maculatus
- Rufous-crowned SparrowAimophila ruficeps
- Painted BuntingPasserina ciris
- Vesper SparrowPooecetes gramineus
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
- Barn SwallowHirundo rustica
- House FinchCarpodacus mexicanus
- VeeryCatharus fuscescens
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Bell's VireoVireo bellii
- Blue-winged WarblerVermivora pinus
- Golden-winged WarblerVermivora chrysoptera
Plants 142
- Earleaf GreenbrierSmilax auriculata
- Fringed NutrushScleria ciliata
- Southern DewberryRubus trivialis
- Buffalo CloverTrifolium reflexum
- Gray DogwoodCornus racemosa
- Cutleaf GoldenrodSolidago arguta
- Hairy LettuceLactuca hirsuta
- Upland BonesetEupatorium sessilifolium
- Eustis Lake BeardtonguePenstemon australis
- Slender LespedezaLespedeza virginica
- Trailing LespedezaLespedeza procumbens
- Creeping LespedezaLespedeza repens
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP year-round habitat model for Northern Bobwhite Elevation up to 975 m. Leaves out developed land
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)
- Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab) (CC0 1.0), diet records by plant genus











































































