MS NORTHERN BOBWHITE QUAIL
NS Middle Schoolers Raising Quails!

Ms. Kaitlin Biagiotti said, "This project is being done in collaboration with CEED, an environmental nonprofit organization on Long Island. We are raising Northern Bobwhite Quail, a species native to our area, because their numbers have been in decline on the island. They are important to our local ecology because they feed on small insects, such as ticks, and help to keep those populations in check."

Through this opportunity, students at North Shore Middle School are learning about animal life cycles, egg incubation, chick brooding, habitat restoration and predator-prey relationships. They are also doing something good for the environment through hands-on inquiry learning! It's important that students understand that a healthy environment helps everyone.

To the joy of the students, the eggs are in the process of hatching now! Ms. Biagiotti concluded by saying, "We will keep them in the brooder for about two weeks and then bring them to outdoor flight cages where they learn how to survive in the wild. They will be released into the wild in July."

Article by Ms. Biagiotti    Photos by Shelly Newman