Spatial and Temporal Variation in Female Wild Turkey Roost Site Selection

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.