Habitat Use by Female Eastern Wild Turkeys in Southeastern Oklahoma

Abstract

We radiomarked 41 adult female eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) to determine home range and habitat use on intensively managed forests in the Ouachita Mountains, southeastern Oklahoma. We monitored turkeys during 1983-84 on a 19,000 ha management area consisting of naturally regenerated stands (66%), 1-13-year-old pine (Pinus spp.) plantations (31%), pastures and hay meadows (2%), and developed areas (1%). Mean seasonal home-range size was 225 + 90, 865 ? 85, 780 + 161, and 459 ? 125 (SE) ha in winter, spring, summer, and fall, respectively. Use patterns in 5 age classes of pine plantations were related to stem densities and potential food production. Turkeys avoided (P 41 ha], cattle grazing, and hog foraging) may pose a threat to wild turkey populations in the region (Natl. Wildl. Fed. 1982). The purpose of our study was to determine home-range size and habitat use by female eastern wild turkeys on an intensively managed commercial forest. We thank D. M. Leslie, Jr., R. L. Lochmiller, and J. H. Shaw for reviewing the manuscript. We also thank J. M. Gray and F. S. Schitoskey for project support and S. W. Conrady and M. E. Stuart for help with field work. Special thanks go to R. E. Thackston and C. E. Woods of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and M. A. Melchiors and D. W. Moore of the Weyerhaeuser Company. This study was supported in part by a contribution from the Oklahoma Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration Project W-137-R and conducted under the auspices of the Oklahoma Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, Oklahoma State University, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Wildlife Management Institute cooperate with the Oklahoma Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. STUDY AREA AND METHODS Our study area was located on the Weyerhaeuser Company Mountain Fork Wildlife Management Area (19,000 ha) in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, and included naturally regenerated stands (66%), pine plantations (31%), pastures and hay meadows (2%), and developed areas (1%). This region was characterized by steep, rugged hills separated by valleys with rolling topography and streams with spring-fed tributaries. Annual rainfall averaged 115.3 cm and elevation above mean sea level ranged from 183 to 381 m. Duck and Fletcher (1945) described the native vegetation in the study area as oak (Quercus spp.)-pine (Pinus spp.) forest 1 Present address: Department of Agronomy, 373 AGH, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078. 2 Present address: RD 5, Box 76, Cameron, WV