Behavioral ecology of wild turkeys

Parker, Christine

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/113815 Copy

Description

Title

Behavioral ecology of wild turkeys

Author(s)

Parker, Christine

Issue Date

2021-10-01

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Hoover, Jeffrey P

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Benson, Thomas J

Committee Member(s)

• Fraterrigo, Jennifer M
• Schooley, Robert L

Department of Study

Natural Res & Env Sci

Discipline

Natural Res & Env Sciences

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• wild turkey
• incubation
• recess
• habitat use
• pyrodiversity
• hidden Markov model

Abstract

Wild turkey (Meleagris gallopovo) hens are solitary and cryptic during the reproductive season, sensitive to observer presence near the nest site, and as a result our understanding of their incubation behavior is limited to a handful of studies. Lacking this important behavioral information, it remains unclear how incubation behavior among turkey hens influences reproductive success. Habitat use among hens during the reproductive season is influenced by forest management strategies such as prescribed fire, however, these inferences are primarily derived from pine (Pinus spp.) forest habitat of the southeastern U.S. and are not likely applicable to hardwood forests of the Midwest. To address these unknowns, I remotely monitored Eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopovo silvestris) using micro-GPS and studied their habitat use, incubation behavior, and daily nest survival. Chapter 1 of my dissertation provides a review of animal behavior in the context of wildlife conservation, habitat use in managed landscapes, and wild turkey hen reproductive behavior and success. In Chapter 2, I sought to examine habitat use among wild turkey hens during the reproductive season as a function of prescribed fire; a forest management strategy that is increasing in use in Illinois to reduce invasive and undesirable vegetation and encourage oak (Quercus spp.) regeneration. More specifically, I addressed two questions, (1) Does prescribed fire influence habitat selection among hens? and (2) Does burn regime (time-since-fire and burn frequency) influence hen habitat use among burned forest areas? I found that within their annual and reproductive period ranges, hens generally used burned and non-burned forest in proportion to what was available to them within the flock and annual ranges. During the reproductive season in Illinois, wild turkey hens exhibited habitat selection among burned forest areas as a function of time-since-burn and burn frequency, and non-burned forest represented a large proportion of their annual and seasonal ranges with most nests occurring in non-burned forests. The effects of time-since-burn and burn frequency on habitat use changed in response to the reproductive period (i.e., egg-laying, incubation, or post-nesting) and spatial scale examined (i.e., annual home range vs. reproductive period home range vs. reproductive period core area). The home ranges and core areas of wild turkey hens in Illinois included a mosaic of fire elements. Habitat use by hens during egg-laying and incubation periods indicated hens selected areas with at least one growing season since burning. The diversity in use of burned and non-burned forest suggests that managing for pyrodiversity in forested landscapes of Illinois may provide a range of habitats that are valuable for nesting and brood-rearing turkeys. In Chapter 3, I used hidden Markov models to classify activity data collected from hens during each nest attempt to describe individual incubation behavior. I discovered that hens exhibited a partial incubation period which lasted from 1 - 6 days prior to the start of continuous incubation (i.e., the day following the first night spent on the nest). I found that the mean daily recess frequency was 1.3 (SD = 0.7) and ranged between 0 - 5 recesses. Mean recess duration was 45.3 min (SD = 30.7 min) and ranged between 5 – 325 min. Recesses occurred more frequently in the afternoon than in the morning. In addition to growing our understanding of turkey recess behavior, future harvest regulations in Illinois will be informed by improved knowledge of the partial incubation period and the timing of hen recesses. In Chapter 4, I analyzed 48 nest attempts to evaluate the influence of recess behavior described in Chapter 3, habitat and landscape features, ambient temperature, and temporal variables on daily nest survival. Based on the results from binary-regression models of daily nest survival, I found that daily nest survival rates declined with increasing visual obstruction (51 – 100 cm) of a nest site. Models of incubation recess behavior did a poor job explaining daily survival rates of nests and ranked below the constant survival model. These results suggest that factors beyond the scope of this study, such as nest predator community composition and abundance, are likely playing a strong role in the survival of wild turkey nests across Illinois. Taken together, these results suggest that (1) pyrodiversity in a forested landscape may be valuable for Eastern wild turkey hens during the reproductive season, and (2) although recess behavior varied among hens, it did not appear to influence daily nest survival. Managing a forested area with pyrodiversity goals can provide valuable habitat for nesting and brood-rearing wild turkeys, but reproductive success may remain low regardless.

Graduation Semester

2021-12

Type of Resource

Thesis

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/113815

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2021 Christine Parker

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