Editing Northern bobwhite (section)

==== New Zealand ====

From 1898<ref>Ayson, L.F. 1899:1.</ref> to 1902, some 1,300 birds were imported from America and released in many parts of the North and South Islands,<ref name="autogenerated1">K.E. Westerskov, MSc, PhD. ''Complete Book of New Zealand Birds''</ref> from Northland to Southland. The bird was briefly on the Nelson game shooting licence, but: "It would seem that the committee was a little too eager in placing these Quail on the licence, or the shooters of the day were over-zealous and greedy in their bag limits, for the Virginian Quail, like the Mountain Quail were soon a thing of the past."<ref>Ann.Rep. Nelson Acclimatisation Society, 1968:38</ref> The Taranaki (Acclimatisation) Society released a few in 1900 and was confidant that in a year or two they might offer good sport; two years later, broods were reported and the species was said to be ''steadily increasing''; but after another two years they seemed ''to have disappeared'' and that was the end of them. The Otago (Acclimatisation) Society imported more in 1948,<ref>Ann. Rep. Otago Acclimatisation Society, 1948</ref> but these releases did no good.<ref>Ann. Rep. North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society, 1954:21</ref><ref>''Gamekeepers for the Nation'', 1994, R.M. McDowell</ref> After 1923, no more genuinely wild birds were sighted until 1952, when a small population was found northwest of Wairoa in the Ruapapa Road area. Since then, bobwhite have been found at several localities around Waikaremoana, in farmland, open bush and along roadsides.<ref name="autogenerated1"/>

More birds have been imported into [[New Zealand]] by private individuals since the 1990s and a healthy captive population is now held by backyard aviculturists and have been found to be easily cared for and bred and are popular for their song and good looks. A larger proportion of the national captive population belong to a few game preserves and game bird breeders. Though the birds would be self-sustaining in the wild if they were protected; it is tricky to guess what the effect of an annual population subsidy and hunting has on any of the original populations from the Acclimatisation Society releases.

An [[albino]] hen was present in a [[covey]] in Bayview, Hawkes Bay for a couple of seasons sometime around 2000.<ref>J.J. Holland</ref>