How Studying Turkey Hens Helps Conservation Efforts

BirdNote^®
How Studying Turkey Hens Helps Conservation Efforts
Written by Jasmine ‘Jazzi’ Johnson

Purbita Saha: This is BirdNote.

[Wild Turkey hens calling, ML304720121]

One crucial challenge in bird conservation is the lack of knowledge about female birds.

Mike Chamberlain: being able to understand what's driving the female segment of our populations — it's critical.

Purbita Saha: Michael Chamberlain, wildlife ecologist and co-founder of the Wild Turkey Lab, has spent most of his 30-plus-year career studying wild turkeys. And he says one recent, important discovery came from researching the nesting habits of hens.

Mike Chamberlain: we thought for decades that they spent time before they laid that first egg picking the best spot. And what we've learned is that they don't do any of that.

They literally fly down the morning of and it appears that their body says, ‘Hey, it's time to go lay some eggs’ and they go do that. That's probably why no two nest sites look alike.  

Purbita Saha: Wild turkeys are a generalist species and can survive in a wide range of habitats. But this also makes them vulnerable. Hens lose nearly 30 percent of their population every year.

Mike Chamberlain: You have a bird that spends all year sleeping at night in a tree. And then suddenly for 28 days, they're sleeping on the ground on a nest. That's typically when they're killed.

Purbita Saha: Learn more about the importance of female birds to conservation on the new season of Bring Birds Back. Available now in your favorite podcast app or at BirdNote dot org. I’m Purbita Saha.

[Wild Turkey hens calling, ML304720121]

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Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
 

Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. ML304720121 Wild Turkey calls recorded by Shilo McDonald.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2024 BirdNote September 2024
Narrator: Purbita Saha

ID# PodBBB-33-2024-09-04    PodBBB-33

References:
Behavior and Movement of Wild Turkey Broods by Mike Chamberlain
The Journal of Wildlife Management
https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jwmg.21883
Travel Distance and Habitat Selection by Female Wild Turkeys on the First Day of Egg Laying
https://wildturkeylab.com/travel-distance-and-habitat-selection-by-female-wild-turkeys-on-the-first-day-of-egg-laying/
Survival and nest success of female wild turkeys
https://wildturkeylab.com/survival-and-nest-success-of-female-wild-turkeys-in-a-louisiana-bottomland-hardwood-forest/