What's up with the breeding population of Common quail in Israel?

The common quail (Coturnix coturnix) is the smallest representative of the Galliformes in Israel.

 

During recent decades its global and local breeding population has suffered a large historical decline owing to a combination of massive hunting, habitat loss and changing agricultural practices. Moreover, it seems that its Israeli breeding population has suffered a significant and crucial decline as in 2017 it had classified as 'rare breeder', as opposed to 'common breeder' during the second half of the 20th century.

OK, that's a problem, what should we do?

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Due to this possible deterioration, the INPA launched a research which involve (a) a thorough investigation on its breeding status, (b) an attempt to revile possible threatening factors, (c) an establishment of a management plan in order to stop this deterioration.

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... and how to achieve these aims? 

Towards these objectives the study will include:

1. A habitat-envelope niche modeling: where can we expect to find quails based on historic observations and GIS layers?

2. A country-wide ground survey: we count how much and where can we find quails using playbacks?

3. Nest predators experiment with camera traps: who are the common next predators. 

4. GPS tracking: we hope to capture free-ranging quails in order to attach GPS transmitters on their back (for studying their home range and habitat preferences).

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These main and necessary method will help us to better understand the status of the quail breeding population in Israel and to develop several management tools for its conservation.