Winter Watch: Hunters and birders can report turkey sightings to aid in wildlife research
Ben Moyer
Outdoor enthusiasts who feel a mid-winter lag of opportunities can direct some time and effort toward helping the region’s wild turkey populations.
Beginning Jan. 15, the Pennsylvania Game Commission is asking anyone sighting wild turkey flocks to report the encounter to its Winter Wild Turkey Sighting Survey on a special website set up to collect the data (https://pgcdatacollection.pa.gov/TurkeyBroodSurvey. Commission biologists are interested in the public’s sightings of turkeys of both sexes, any age, flocks of any size, and in any location within the state. Citizens filing a report will be asked on the website to provide such details of the sighting. The survey will continue through March 15 and reports will be accepted through that date.
Once biologists evaluate reports, they may visit sites to determine the feasibility of live-trapping turkeys there.
The trapping process is fascinating to watch. When permission to trap a site is secured, biologists and wardens bait the site, which encourages turkeys to return regularly. Once the birds have become comfortable feeding there, a team will deploy a set-up of small rockets which, when fired, lifts a large net over the flock, pinning them to the ground. The team then rushes out of hiding and carefully frees each bird. Depending on the objectives of the trapping effort, the birds will be released after tagging for identification later, or carefully boxed for transport to new habitat.
The Commission emphasizes that all turkey sighting reports submitted in this current project are for tagging and research purposes only. No turkeys will be removed from the original locations for transport elsewhere. Captured birds will be fitted with leg bands, then released on site. The numbered bands will enable biologists to assess movements of birds, growth, and future hunting mortality rates. Hunters who later harvest a banded turkey are asked to report the band number online or to a toll-free phone number provided on the band.
“The data give us information on annual survival rates and annual spring harvest rates for our population model and provides the person reporting information on when and approximately where the turkey was banded,” said Mary Jo Casalena, the Game Commission’s turkey biologist.
Some trapped birds will also be tested for disease by swabbing the throat and collecting blood samples. Turkey hunters report that turkey numbers have declined in some regions, and disease could be part of the reason. The decline in ruffed grouse has been attributed to West Nile virus, but that disease has not been confirmed to cause mortality in wild turkeys.
In some areas of the state trapping teams will also attach radio transmitters to trapped turkeys so their movements and habitat selection can be continuously monitored.
“We’re studying turkey population and movement dynamics, disease prevalence, and other aspects that may limit populations in these units,” Casalena said.
These studies are being done in partnership with Penn State University and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wildlife Futures Program.
There are no plans to attach radio transmitters to trapped turkeys in Wildlife Management Units 2A or 2C in this part of the state. But birds trapped here will be banded.
The population and movement portion of this work will examine how landscape and weather impact hen nest rates, nest success, poult survival, predation, habitat use and movement. The disease portion of the study is examining how disease prevalence varies based on landscape and impacts things like the survival and nesting rates of hens of different ages.
Live-trapping of wild turkeys for research or reintroduction efforts is done in winter because the birds are easier to lure to bait at that time when natural foods are harder for flocks to find.
“This is the largest turkey project we’ve ever conducted, with the hope of answering many questions regarding current turkey population dynamics,” Casalena said.
One incentive to report turkey sightings is that, under appropriate circumstances and conditions, the reporting individuals sometimes get to help the Game Commission team with trapping the birds. Anyone who has participated in this effort counts it among their most memorable wildlife experiences.
“Finding birds to trap is key to accomplishing this work,” Casalena said. “That’s where the public comes in. Fortunately, Pennsylvanians have a history of helping wildlife in this way. The public was so helpful the last two years and some even helped with monitoring sites and trapping. We look forward to continuing this winter.”
The survey reporting page is easy to find on the Game Commission’s website www.pgc.pa.gov. Go to the main website and click on “Winter Turkey Sighting Survey to Begin.” The site will not accept data until Jan. 15.