Matthew J. Butler

Prairie grouse (Tympanuchus and Centrocercus spp.) once occupied wide expanses of North American grass and shrub habitats. In the last three decades, prairie grouse populations have exhibited precipitous declines, often because of altered land use practices. There is a need to develop new research and management techniques to facilitate prairie grouse conservation efforts. We evaluated aerial survey capabilities to assist in the management of lesser prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus; [LPC]). Our objectives were to determine the most efficient aircraft type and flight parameters...

Few studies have assessed methods of estimating abundance, density, and trends of wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) populations and most wild turkey survey efforts have been unstandardized, unsuccessful, or limited to small scales. However, successful large-scale monitoring programs are important to management decisions and evaluating management activities. Our objectives were to evaluate survey techniques for wild turkey. We used inflatable turkey decoys, radio-tagged wild turkeys, and computer simulations to evaluate road surveys and aerial surveys from fixed-wing aircraft (Cessna 172)...

Previous studies on wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) home ranges have concentrated on the eastern subspecies (M. g. silvestris). Our objectives were to estimate spring-summer period (1 April-31 August) and annual home ranges of Rio Grande wild turkeys (M. g. intermedia) and compare them across study sites, age (adult, juvenile) and sex. From 2000−2004, we recorded 44,526 telemetry locations from 1,253 radiotagged Rio Grande wild turkeys on four study sites in the Texas Panhandle and southwestern Kansas. We used the 95% fixed kernel and 95% minimum convex polygon (MCP) methods to calculate...