Spatial and Temporal Variation in Female Wild Turkey Roost Site Selection
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Date
2023
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Abstract
Nocturnal roost sites are a habitat requirement for Meleagris gallopavo silvestris (Eastern Wild
Turkey), and appropriate roost sites lessen predation risk and provide thermal protection from
extreme weather. Most prior research has focused on male roost site selection, typically within a
single publicly owned property. We assessed roost site selection of female Wild Turkeys in
relation to distance to road, water, and opening on privately owned properties across the three
main ecoregions of North Carolina. We captured and monitored 355 individuals and collected
64,924 roost locations from 2020-2022 during the leaf on (March 15 to October 31) and leaf off
(November 1 to March 14) seasons, which were based roughly on the phenology of deciduous
trees. We used backwards stepwise selection to determine the best fit GLM model that included
year, leaf season, region, and distance to water, road, and opening as predictors of roost site
selection. Female turkeys roosted closer to water (mean=138.0, SE=0.4047) than random
(mean=160.7, SE=0.4872) consistently across leaf seasons and regions. The best fit model
included an interaction between leaf season and distance to road and interaction between leaf
season and distance to opening. Wild Turkeys selected roost locations closer to roads
(mean=507.9, SE=1.562) than random (mean=539.4, SE=1.786) during the leaf on season but
not during the leaf off season. Similarly, female Wild Turkeys selected roost locations closer to
open land cover (mean=134.2, SE=1.088) than random (mean=167.1, SE=1.151) during the leaf
on season but not during the leaf off season. Selection was generally consistent across regions,
indicating that efforts to conserve roosting areas can be applied uniformly across broad
geographic scales.