Home range and habitat selection of the female eastern wild turkey at its northern range edge

In recent decades, the range of the eastern wild turkey Meleagris gallopavo silvestris has expanded north of its historical distribution in North America. The major limiting factors for wild turkeys beyond their historical range are not well understood, and little is known about turkey resource use at their new range periphery. We evaluated the home range size of female turkeys at their northern range edge in Ontario, Canada, and we took a hierarchical approach to assess habitat selection. To accomplish this, we analyzed data from 36 females fitted with VHF and GPS transmitters. Season had a significant effect on home range size, with the greatest home range sizes found in the spring and autumn, and the smallest in the winter and summer. There was also an effect of flock membership on winter home range size. We found evidence of habitat selection by turkeys at both the second order, placement of home ranges within the landscape, and the third order, use of habitat within home ranges. In both cases, female turkeys primarily selected deciduous forest and fields and avoided coniferous forest. Areas close to supplemental food sources were also selected during the autumn and winter. As populations expand into novel landscapes, continued efforts to understand resource limitation and habitat selection strategies of northern turkeys will guide effective management of these game birds.