Foraging and travel success of wild turkey poults in southern Illinois grasslands

Abstract

AbstractFew studies have assessed potential differences in foraging behavior between wild‐strain and commercial‐strain gallinaceous chicks often used to assess habitat quality. We conducted field trials during summer 2013 using wild‐strain (n = 54) and commercial‐strain (n = 64) wild turkey (Meleagris gallapavo) poults to assess foraging efficiency and mobility in burned and unburned grassland sections in southern Illinois. Foraging efficiency of turkey poults did not differ between burned or unburned fields, or between wild and commercial‐strain poults. All poults selected invertebrate orders Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, and Isopoda during all field trials, whereas poults avoided orders Araneae, Diptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, and Orthoptera, and orders Collembola, Diplura, and Protura in class Entognatha. Overall, the lack of differences in behavior between poult strains should allow researchers to confidently use commercially‐raised chicks as an alternative to wild‐captured chicks in studies that assess forage quality and travel efficiency.