nest site selection

Nest site selection has a critical effect on nest success for eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris), yet the underlying drivers of nest site selection are often misrepresented in the literature. Early works typically focused on evaluating behavioral ecology of female wild turkeys before nest initiation, under the assumption that female wild turkeys sought out nest sites well in advance of nest initiation. However, recent work has clearly found no evidence of nest site search behavior before the day of nest initiation, thus increasing the need to focus evaluations...

Managing and restoring longleaf pine forests throughout the Southeast is a conservation priority. Prescribed fire is an integral part of these activities, as it is the primary means of controlling hardwood encroachment and maintaining native groundcover. Nest site and preflight brood ground- roost site selection of eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) has not been well studied in longleaf pine systems. Therefore, we determined habitat characteristics associated with wild turkey nests and ground-roosts in 2 longleaf pine forests in southwestern Georgia. We radio-tagged 45...