Episode Details

We're bringing back the episode where we dig into decades-old crop-content studies to quantify exactly how much of a turkey's diet is acorns, and what the trends in declining oak forests mean for the future of wild turkeys.

Resources:

• Alexander et al. (2021). Mesophication of oak landscapes: Evidence, knowledge gaps, and future research. BioScience, 71(5), 531-542.

• Burk et al. (1990). Wild turkey use of streamside management zones in loblolly pine plantations. In Proceedings of the National Wild Turkey Symposium (Vol. 6, pp. 84-89).

• Byrne, M. E. (2013). Nesting ecology of wild turkeys in a bottomland hardwood forest. The American Midland Naturalist, 170(1), 95-110.

• Davis et al. (2018). Landscape-abundance relationships of male Eastern Wild Turkeys Meleagris gallopavo silvestris in Mississippi, USA. Acta ornithologica, 52(2), 127-139.

• Marable et al. (2023). Seasonal Resource Selection and Use of Hardwood Regeneration by Translocated Wild Turkeys in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Diversity, 15(9), 1007.

• McShea et al. (2007). Forestry matters: decline of oaks will impact wildlife in hardwood forests. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 71(5), 1717-1728.

• Nelson et al. (2022). Fine‐scale resource selection and behavioral tradeoffs of eastern wild turkey broods. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 86(5), e22222.

• Nelson et al. (2023). Age‐based shifts in habitat selection of wild turkey broods. The Journal of Wildlife Management, e22494.

• Norman & Steffen (2003). Effects of recruitment, oak mast, and fall-season format on wild turkey harvest rates in Virginia. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 553-559.

• Norman et al. (2022). Hunting and environmental influences on survival of male wild turkeys in Virginia and West Virginia. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 46(2), e1284.

• Schemnitz, S. D. (1956). Wild turkey food habits in Florida. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 20(2), 132-137.