Meleagris Gallopavo Research Articles

Seasonal and Regional Differences in Economic Benefits of Turkey Hunting

ABSTRACTWild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris; hereafter, turkey) hunting is a popular outdoor recreation activity in many states, including Tennessee, USA. Despite its cultural and social significance, economic benefits associated with turkey hunting are largely unknown. Past economic studies either focused on other big game species or provided generic value for big game, and do not offer benefit estimates specific to turkey. We estimated a demand model for turkey hunting trips in Tennessee and quantified per‐trip and statewide aggregate value of turkey hunting. We compared the net economic value of turkey hunting trips between hunting seasons (autumn and spring) and wildlife management regions that differ in many aspects including turkey population, hunting regulations, etc. Per person per trip value of turkey hunting ranged between US$34 and US$90 depending on the modeling assumption regarding hunters’ opportunity cost of time. Moreover, estimated value differed among regions and between hunting seasons, with the value of a turkey‐hunting trip in the spring season being twice that of the autumn season. Many states in southern United States, including Tennessee, have recently experienced declines in turkey populations and are in need of economic justifications for investment in research and management. Our results are useful to wildlife agencies in characterizing economic benefits of turkey hunting and evaluating the welfare implications of regulations (e.g., closure, reduction in season length) restricting or expanding hunting opportunities. © 2020 The Wildlife Society.

The hepatic transcriptome of the turkey poult (Meleagris gallopavo) is minimally altered by high inorganic dietary selenium.

There is interest in supplementing animals and humans with selenium (Se) above Se-adequate levels, but the only good biomarker for toxicity is tissue Se. We targeted liver because turkeys fed 5 μg Se/g have hepatic Se concentrations 6-fold above Se-adequate (0.4 μg Se/g) levels without effects on growth or health. Our objectives were (i) to identify transcript biomarkers for high Se status, which in turn would (ii) suggest proteins and pathways used by animals to adapt to high Se. Turkey poults were fed 0, 0.025, 0.4, 0.75 and 1.0 μg Se/g diet in experiment 1, and fed 0.4, 2.0 and 5.0 μg Se/g in experiment 2, as selenite, and the full liver transcriptome determined by RNA-Seq. The major effect of Se-deficiency was to down-regulate expression of a subset of selenoprotein transcripts, with little significant effect on general transcript expression. In response to high Se intake (2 and 5 μg Se/g) relative to Se-adequate turkeys, there were only a limited number of significant differentially expressed transcripts, all with only relatively small fold-changes. No transcript showed a consistent pattern of altered expression in response to high Se intakes across the 1, 2 and 5 μg Se/g treatments, and there were no associated metabolic pathways and biological functions that were significant and consistently found with high Se supplementation. Gene set enrichment analysis also found no gene sets that were consistently altered by high-Se and supernutritional-Se. A comparison of differentially expressed transcript sets with high Se transcript sets identified in mice provided high Se (~3 μg Se/g) also failed to identify common differentially expressed transcript sets between these two species. Collectively, this study indicates that turkeys do not alter gene expression in the liver as a homeostatic mechanism to adapt to high Se.

Wildlife occupancy and trail use before and after a park opens to the public

We investigated changes in wildlife trail use and occupancy from baseline conditions after a park opened to the public; we were curious if wildlife would alter either their use of the trails or the surrounding areas or both in response to the park opening. We generated single-season occupancy estimates as a site-wide occupancy metric from 23 camera traps placed at 0.5 km intervals throughout the park and wildlife and human detection rates to measure intensity of trail use from 10 camera traps placed every 500 m on the trail. We compared the findings from the four seasons before to the four seasons after the park opened to the public. Human trail use increased sharply after opening and then lessened, but was markedly higher than prior to opening. Bobcat (Lynx rufus), coyote (Canis latrans) and gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) did not alter trail use relative to study area occupancy. Two species, black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and gray squirrel (Sciurus griseus) altered trail use, and puma (Puma concolor) and wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) altered both trail and study area use. All species, except for the raccoon (Procyon lotor) and wild turkey, recovered to pre-opening conditions, by the winter (that is, after approximately 9 months) following opening.

A hierarchical framework for estimating abundance and population growth from imperfectly observed removals

AbstractEstimating abundance and growth of animal populations are central tasks in ecology and natural resource management. Removal models for estimating abundance have a long history in applied ecology, and recent developments provided hierarchical extensions that account for spatially replicated sampling and heterogeneous capture probabilities. Measurement error is common to removal data collected from many broad‐scale monitoring programs, however, and a general framework for population assessment using removal data in the presence of measurement error is lacking. We developed a hierarchical framework for estimating abundance and population trends from removal experiments that are replicated in space and time that accommodates measurement error, as well as heterogeneity in capture probability and animal density. We describe the model for variable‐effort removal sampling and use it to estimate region‐specific abundance and population trends for wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) in Michigan, USA. We used a Bayesian approach for estimation and inference and fit models using daily hunter harvest and effort estimates collected over 5 management regions for 14 annual hunting seasons. Our analyses provide evidence for spatially heterogeneous capture probabilities among regions and turkey densities that were heterogeneous in both space and time, and show that populations increased slightly over the study. Our framework provides a general approach for population assessment using removal data that are collected over broad scales in resource management contexts (e.g., animal harvesting), facilitating formal abundance estimation instead of reliance on unverified indices for tracking populations of managed species. Thus, we provide a useful tool for monitoring programs to assess populations over broad scales, and therefore inform decision makers about population status at spatial scales similar to those for which regulatory decisions are made.

Development and quality evaluation of meat balls from turkey meat

A study was conducted to develop and assess the quality and acceptability of meat balls from turkey meat ( Meleagris gallopavo ). Meat balls prepared from broiler chicken meat were used as control. Significantly (P<0.05) higher pH, product yield (%), moisture retention (%), moisture (%), protein (%) and fat (%) were observed in turkey meat balls. The product shrinkage (%) was non-significantly higher in broiler chicken meat balls as compared to turkey meat balls. No significant differences were observed in microbial counts between the broiler chicken meat and turkey meat balls. Physico-chemical parameters of turkey meat balls were comparable with broiler chicken meat balls. Sensory evaluation scores results indicated that meat balls prepared from turkey were rated “very palatable” and were comparable with meat balls prepared from broiler chicken meat. Therefore, it can be concluded that, turkey meat can be successfully used for preparation of meat balls of acceptable quality.

Outbreak of avian mycobacteriosis in a commercial turkey breeder flock

ABSTRACTAvian mycobacteriosis (AM) is a chronic and contagious disease of pet birds, captive exotic, wild and domestic fowl, and mammals. Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium is the most common cause of AM in poultry. For the first time, we report a chronic outbreak of AM in an Iranian breeder flock of 250 45-week-old turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) with a morbidity and mortality rate of 91.6% and 80%, respectively. A well-defined clinical feature of the outbreak included a progressive weight loss, decreased egg production, listlessness, and lameness. Tuberculous nodules were seen on liver, spleen, ovary, and ribs. Granulomatous inflammation and acid-fast bacilli were confirmed by using Ziehl-Neelsen method on hepatic lesions. M. avium subsp. avium was identified by polymerase chain reaction techniques based on the presence of 16S ribosomal RNA gene and insertion elements IS1245 and IS901. In this report, we not only describe the epidemiological, pathological, and molecular characteristics of the outbreak in detail, but we also discuss multiple factors influencing the introduction and development of AM critically. In this case, wild feral pigeons might have been the source of infection, but further molecular-epidemiology studies are needed to understand the role of wild birds in the persistence and transmission of Mycobacterium.RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTSFirst report of avian mycobacteriosis in an Iranian commercial turkey flock is described in detail.Risk factors intrinsic to the bird and mycobacteria, as well as extrinsic factors influencing the introduction and development of avian mycobacteriosis in birds, are critically discussed.

Design and development of a multiplex microsatellite panel for the genetic characterisation and diversity assessment of domestic turkey (Meleagris gallopavo gallopavo)

Domestic turkey production generally utilises only a few genetically improved lines, and local breeds are severely endangered as a result. Furthermore, the genetic resources of domestic turkeys have not been properly investigated, which could, ultimately, lead to the extinction of local breeds and negatively affect their corresponding genetic diversity and environmental adaptation. Although, several microsatellite markers have been designed for mapping and quantitative trait locus analysis, there is no standard panel of markers for genetic characterisation or genetic diversity assessment. Accordingly, the present study aimed to develop a set of polymorphic microsatellite markers that could be used for international turkey population studies. Thirty-nine microsatellites were selected based on polymorphism, DNA sequence and chromosome position, as well as on amplification efficiency, success rate and the absence of nonspecific amplification. The markers were screened using 105 DNA samples from local turkey breeds from Mexico, the United States, Italy, Brazil, Egypt and Spain. A total of 401 alleles were identified, with a mean number of alleles per marker of 10.28 ± 4.25. All microsatellites were polymorphic, with at least four alleles and no more than 19 alleles. Furthermore, allelic richness ranged from 3.810 to 17.985, mean heterozygosity ranged from 0.452 ± 0.229 to 0.667 ± 0.265, polymorphic information content values ranged from 0.213 (MNT264) to 0.850 (RHT0024) and the mean Fis value was 0.322. Overall, the panel was highly polymorphic and exhibited moderate Hardy–Weinberg disequilibrium, thereby indicating its value as a tool for biodiversity and population structure studies that could play an important role in promoting the conservation of local turkey breeds. Highlights Important genetic resources reside within indigenous turkey populations. These are linked to historic heritage production values and breeds. It is important to preserve this heritage and genetic diversity, which threatens to be lost as production systems focus on production characteristics. Microsatellite markers, even though, they are now replaced by single nucleotide polymorphism automatic genotyping platforms in many fields of genetics, remain a viable alternative thanks to their cheapness and simplicity of study which makes them particularly useful when the population to be studied lacks information of the prior genetic structure.

Spatial-temporal dynamics of hunter effort for wild turkeys in Michigan.

Wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo; hereafter turkeys) are an important game animal whose popularity among hunters has increased in recent decades. Yet, the number of hunters pursuing turkeys appears to be in flux, patterns of hunter abundance have primarily been described at broad spatial scales, and the ability of management to impact hunter numbers in the post-restoration era of management through opportunity for quality hunting is unclear. We used county-scale estimates of turkey hunter numbers collected over a 14-year period (2001–2014) and time-series analyses to evaluate the spatial scales at which spring and fall turkey hunter populations fluctuate, and also used generalized linear mixed models to evaluate whether attributes related to quality turkey hunting explain recent patterns in hunter abundance. We found heterogeneity in turkey hunter population growth at finer spatial scales than has been previously described (i.e., counties and management units), and provide evidence for spatial structuring of hunter population dynamics among counties that did not always correspond with existing management units. Specifically, the directionality of hunter population change displays spatial structure along an east-west gradient in southern Michigan. We also found little evidence that factors providing opportunity for quality turkey hunting had meaningful impacts on recent spatial-temporal patterns of hunter numbers. Our results imply that providing quality turkey hunting opportunities alone may be insufficient for sustaining populations of turkey hunters in the future, and that modern determinants of hunter participation extend beyond the availability of abundant turkey populations. Moreover, our results demonstrate that interpretation of harvest data as indices of abundance for turkey populations is difficult in the absence of hunter effort data, as changes to turkey harvest are a function of potentially fine-scaled changes in populations of hunters, not simply changes to turkey populations.

Skeletal correlates of flight specialization in large birds and their application to extinct giants

This study addresses questions related to the size limits of flying birds and tradeoffs associated with the evolution of large size. Flight imposes unique limits on size in animals, and as such, form and function in large flyers can provide unique insights regarding the mechanical and physiological limits of vertebrate animals. We focused on specializations in skeletal morphology associated with the large size of flying birds. We developed a large comparative dataset of axial and appendicular skeletal proportions for living birds, using the collections of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. We examined skeletal proportions because they provide mechanically relevant data and because of their applicability to fossil taxa. Some extinct, flight‐capable birds achieved sizes far exceeding that of any living flying birds. The ecologies and flight performance profiles of these extinct forms are a matter of debate. Our dataset and methodology address these questions related to flight capacity.We consider the implications of our results for three different extinct giant flying birds: pelagornithids, teratorns, and giant storks. The largest pelagornithids had wingspans of up to 6 meters, twice that of the largest span in living birds. The teratorns contain the largest flying birds in the world with wingspans potentially reaching 6.5 m, and masses up to 75 kg. The flight capability of Leptoptilos robustus, a giant stork from the Indonesian island of Flores, is largely debated. This animal was nearly 1.8 meters tall and likely massed over 16 kg.We took mechanically relevant skeletal measurements from over 300 living birds, focusing on the forelimb, hind limb, and sternal elements. Analysis of residuals from a series of linear regressions showed that large soaring specialists have significantly longer humeri compared to their sterna than other birds. This analysis also revealed that wing propelled swimmers and burst flyers tend to possess significantly shortened humeri. Burst adapted flyers, especially the largest burst specialists (wild turkeys), possess sterna that are significantly longer and deeper, relative to sternal width, than those of other birds. Interestingly, large wing‐propelled swimmers also have higher sternal length to width ratios than other birds. By contrast, soaring specialists have relatively “typical” sternal proportions, as indicated by small residuals in sternal length when regressed against sternal width.These results, taken together, indicate that relatively simple measurements of limb bone and sternum dimensions can be a powerful tool for distinguishing between burst adapted and soaring adapted large flyers. Since large flying animals rely on high fractions of anaerobic flight muscle to maintain sufficient mass‐specific power for flight, most large flyers specialize in either burst takeoff or soaring flight. Our methodology distinguishes between these specializations with a high degree of accuracy in living taxa. We propose the same approach can be used for fossil taxa. Preliminary application of our comparative metrics suggest that teratorns were less condor‐like in their flight performance profile than previously suggested and pelagornithids, while clearly soaring specialized, may have been marine thermal users, rather than dynamic soaring specialists.

Germ cell dynamics during nest breakdown and formation of the primordial follicle pool in the domestic turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)

This study determined, for the first time, the different subpopulations of germ cells and stereological changes within the cortex of the functional left ovary during germ cell nest breakdown, and formation of the primordial follicle pool in the domestic turkey. This was accomplished by measuring the size, density, and count of prefollicular germ cells and primordial follicles in turkey poults between 1 and 35 days posthatch (dph). The percent volume (PV) of germ cells and follicles within the cortex was also calculated as a means of validating the counting technique. The total percent volume of germ cells and primordial follicles within the cortex ranged between 42 and 84%, suggesting that the counting technique was valid. Our findings show that before germ cell nest breakdown (5 dph), there were roughly 1,000,000 prefollicular germ cells within the cortex of the left ovary and that germ cell nest breakdown initiated between 5 and 7 dph, characterized by a decrease (P ≤ 0.001) in prefollicular germ cell density and the subsequent appearance of primordial follicles. Nest breakdown is followed on day 9 by the first increase (P ≤ 0.05) in size of prefollicular germ cells. These cells continue to grow throughout nest breakdown. The majority (>90%) of germ cell nest breakdowns concluded by 15 dph; although, the primordial follicle pool was not fully established until 35 dph, as determined by a total lack of prefollicular germ cells. At this point, the pool was comprised of an estimated 60,000 primordial follicles and shows that during nest breakdown and follicle pool formation, ∼94% of germ cells were lost. This 94% decrease in the number of germ cells during nest breakdown in the turkey is comparable to the domestic chicken but is greater than the average two-thirds which are lost in mammalian species.

Comparative performance of three varieties of turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) raised under semi-intensive system

This study was carried out to know the performance of locally available turkeys found in Bangladesh. The birds were reared using broiler grower and layer diets. The study was conducted at Abul Kasem farm (Farm 1) and Vai Vai farm (Farm 2), Brahmanbaria, from November 2018 to January 2019. The aim was to observe the growth performance of turkeys (Black, White and Bronze type) under a semi-intensive rearing system. A total of 40 Black, White and Bronze color type birds were included in the study. Birds were maintained under similar management conditions and Nourish layer feeds were bought from the local market. Farm had no effect on the performances of three genetic groups of turkeys. Bronze type turkeys attained the highest live body weight (5.47 kg) while Black type turkeys attained the lowest (3.79 kg). The white type turkeys, however, attained (4.14 kg) body weight. Bronze type turkeys had the highest shank length (10.31cm) and egg weight (79.45 gm) than black and white turkeys. There was a significant difference (p&lt;0.05) in body weight, shank length, egg weight of Bronze variety with Black and White varieties but no significant difference was observed between Black and White variety. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was the same among the three-color types of turkeys. The growth performance of Bronze type turkey was superior as compared to other color types used in this study. It can be concluded that Bronze color turkey can be reared by feeding commercial broiler and layer feeds under semiintensive system. The findings of this research could be useful for future breeding programs to improve turkeys existing performance.

Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo Linné, 1758) remains from Hungary

Turkey is the last important domestic animal to have been introduced to Europe. It reached the Carpathian Basin at a historically critical time when this area was divided between the Catholic Hungarian Kingdom allied with Austria, the Ottoman Turkish Empire and Protestant Transylvania, a Turkish protectorate. This politically complex situation was also reflected in trade connections. Potential import routes therefore are unclear. Introduction from western/central European countries is consonant with the spread of turkeys in the European continent, but contacts between the Ottoman Turkish and Spanish trade networks may also be reckoned with. Two of the five sites that yielded turkey bones in Hungary fell outside Ottoman Turkish occupation. One originates from an urban context that only temporarily fell under Turkish rule. All turkey remains found at these settlements can be associated with elite consumption. Their anatomical distribution is dominated by meat-rich skeletal elements. This paper is also a review of literary and linguistic evidence regarding the occurrence of turkeys in the territory of present-day Hungary.

Modelling the prehistoric geographical distribution of the genus Meleagris

Studies of the domestication of animals in the Americas suggest strong relationships between humans and a large number of animal species, with the application of many management strategies. Two species of the endemic pheasant genus Meleagris live in America: the wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), culturally the most well-known species, with a natural distribution from North America to central Mexico; and the ocellated turkey (Meleagris ocellata), endemic to the Yucatan Peninsula. However, the cultural exchange of both species, which began with the first sedentary human societies, has obscured the natural distributions of both species in central and southern Mexico.We have modelled the geographical distribution of both species based on the amplitude of the ecological niche, a concept that facilitates our understanding of biological adaptations. The models use temperature, precipitation and current distribution data to project back to the late Pleistocene.Three main inferences can be derived from our models. First, during the late Pleistocene both species of Meleagris experienced a reduction and drastic change in their geographical distribution. Second, the speciation events of the genus Meleagris occurred before the late Pleistocene. Third, the subspecies Meleagris gallopavo gallopavo displays the highest niche amplitude, spanning all other M. gallopavo subspecies, suggesting that it could be a product of cultural management.

Comparison of Merriam's Turkey Harvest Strategies and Survival in Northern Arizona

ABSTRACTWe compared annual survival and hunting‐related mortality of female Merriam's turkey (Meleagris gallopavo merriami) between a period of relatively liberal hunting regulation (before 1990) and after implementation of a more conservative hunting regulation (after 1991) in Arizona, USA, to determine how those regulation changes affected hunting opportunity. Between January 2013 and October 2016, we used radiotelemetry to estimate survival and mortality rates of 185 female wild turkeys (60 juvenile, 125 adult) on 3 study areas in northern Arizona, which we compared with survival and mortality rates documented during an earlier study (1987–1990; Wakeling 1991). We used the nest survival approach in Program MARK to estimate survival and mortality rates for turkeys. Annual survival rate for radiomarked hens was 0.649 (95% CI = 0.597–0.702). Annual survival differed among Game Management Units, but not by season, year, age, or age × season interaction. Harvest rates were 0.024 (95% CI = 0.011–0.51) and 0.039 (95% CI = 0.022–0.071) for females during spring (Mar–May) and fall (Aug–Oct), respectively. The overall human‐caused mortality rate (i.e., fall harvest, spring harvest, unlawful take, wounding loss) was 0.073 (95% CI = 0.046–0.115). The decision to restrict fall turkey hunting opportunities using a regulated permit system had little effect on female turkey survival and hunting‐related mortality, but reduced the number of turkey hunters that could participate by 43%. © 2020 The Wildlife Society.

Invasive Wild Pigs as Primary Nest Predators for Wild Turkeys

Depredation of wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) nests is a leading cause of reduced recruitment for the recovering and iconic game species. Invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are known to depredate nests, and have been expanding throughout the distributed range of wild turkeys in North America. We sought to gain better insight on the magnitude of wild pigs depredating wild turkey nests. We constructed simulated wild turkey nests throughout the home ranges of 20 GPS-collared wild pigs to evaluate nest depredation relative to three periods within the nesting season (i.e., early, peak, and late) and two nest densities (moderate = 12.5-25 nests/km2, high = 25-50 nests/km2) in south-central Texas, USA during March–June 2016. Overall, the estimated probability of nest depredation by wild pigs was 0.3, equivalent to native species of nest predators in the study area (e.g., gray fox [Urocyon cinereoargenteus], raccoon [Procyon lotor], and coyote [Canis latrans]). Female wild pigs exhibited a constant rate of depredation regardless of nesting period or density of nests. However, male wild pigs increased their rate of depredation in areas with higher nest densities. Management efforts should remove wild pigs to reduce nest failure in wild turkey populations especially where recruitment is low.

Surveillance for Heterakis spp. in Game Birds and Cage-Free, Floor-Raised Poultry in Pennsylvania.

Histomoniasis is a significant disease of gallinaceous birds caused by Histomonas meleagridis. Transmission of this parasite is dependent on use of the cecal nematode Heterakis gallinarum. To define the host range of this nematode, cecal contents from 399 game birds and poultry, representing eight species, were examined for Heterakis spp. The majority of these species (five of eight) were infected with Heterakis nematodes. Heterakis gallinarum was detected in free-ranging wild turkeys (Meleagridis gallopovo), captive-raised ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus), chukars (Alectoris chukar), and domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus), whereas H. isolonche was found in ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus). No Heterakis species were identified in the domestic turkey (Meleagridis gallopovo), American woodcock (Scolopax minor), and dabbling duck (Anas spp.) samples. Genetic characterization indicated that nematodes identified as H. gallinarum were present in two distinct clades. One clade of H. gallinarum sequenced from this study grouped with chicken-derived sequences from other countries. The other group of sequences consisted of a sister clade to a group of parasites morphologically identified as H. isolonche. Currently it is unknown if this group represents a genetic variant of H. gallinarum, a variant of H. isolonche, or a novel species. These results indicate Heterakis infection varies among poultry and game bird species but is common among select gallinaceous species in Pennsylvania.

Small Object Bird Detection in Infrared Drone Videos Using Mask R-CNN Deep Learning

A reliable method to estimate population sizes of wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) using unmanned aerial vehicles and thermal video imaging data collected at several field sites in Texas is described. Automating the data processing of airborne survey videos provides a fast and reproducible way to count wild turkeys for wildlife management and conservation. A deep learning semantic segmentation pipeline is developed to detect and count roosting Rio-Grande wild turkeys (M.g. intermedia) which appear as small faint objects in drone-based thermal IR videos. The proposed approach to detect roosting turkeys that appear as small objects, relies on Mask R-CNN, a deep architecture semantic segmentation algorithm. This is followed by a post-processing data association and filtering (DAF) process for counting the number of roosting birds. DAF was used to eliminate false positives like rocks and other small bright objects, which often have noisy detections across temporally adjacent video frames, that can be filtered using appearance association and distance-based gating across time. Transfer learning was used to train the Mask R-CNN network by initializing using ImageNet weights. Drone-based thermal IR videos are extremely challenging due to the complexity of the natural environment including weather effects, occlusion of birds, terrain, trees, complex tree shapes, rocks, water and thermal inversion. The transect videos were collected at night at several times and altitudes to optimize data collection opportunities without disturbing the roosting turkeys. Preliminary performance evaluation using 280 video frames is promising.

Detection of Reticuloendotheliosis Virus in Muscovy Ducks, Wild Turkeys, and Chickens in Brazil

Reticuloendotheliosis viruses (REVs) are known to cause immunosuppressive and oncogenic disease that affects numerous avian species. Reticuloendotheliosis viruses are present worldwide and recently have been reported in South America with cases of infected commercial flocks in Argentina. We surveyed for the presence of REV in birds from a state in the northern region of Brazil using real-time PCR. We report here the presence of REV in Brazil, detected in Muscovy Ducks (Cairina moschata), Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo), and chickens (Gallus gallus) at a relatively high prevalence (16.8%). Phylogenetic analysis indicated a close relationship of these strains to variants in the US. This study provides evidence of REV in the Amazon biome and provides a baseline for future surveillance of the virus in the region and throughout Brazil.

Methane emissions of geese (Anser anser) and turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) fed pelleted lucerne

In contrast to mammalian herbivores, birds are generally perceived to produce little methane (CH4) during digestion, and accounting for poultry in greenhouse gas inventories is considered unnecessary. We measured CH4 emissions in six domestic geese (Anser anser, 5.0 ± 0.9 kg) and six domestic turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo, 6.3 ± 0.6 kg) kept on a diet of lucerne pellets only, using open-circuit chamber respirometry. Measurements of oxygen consumption were similar to previously published values in these species. Absolute CH4 emissions per day were lower in geese (0.58 ± 0.10 L) than in turkeys (1.48 ± 0.16 L) and represented 0.4 ± 0.2 and 0.6 ± 0.1% of gross energy intake, respectively. These results confirm previous findings on the presence of methanogenes in the digestive tract of poultry species, and in vitro measurements performed on poultry caecal contents. In relation to mammalian herbivores in terms of absolute CH4 emissions, CH4 yield per dry matter or gross energy intake, or the CH4:CO2 ratio, the lucerne-fed geese and turkeys had comparatively low values. The emission of CH4 in spite of the very short digesta retention times and low fibre digestibility, as measured in the same animals, gives rise to the hypothesis that that in some birds, caecal fermentation and the associated CH4 production may be related to the microbial digestion of uric acid. The hypothesis that CH4 emissions in poultry may depend not only on dietary fibre but also on dietary digestible protein (that is excreted as uric acid in urine and retrogradely transported from the cloaca into the caeca) remains to be tested.

Hunting Activity Effects on Roost Selection by Male Wild Turkeys

ABSTRACTRoosting is an important component of wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo; turkey) ecology as roosts provide security from predators and inclement weather. Males call (gobble) from roosts during the reproductive season, and roost locations are important for maximizing access to females and transmission of calls across the landscape, while also minimizing predation risk. Spring hunting of male turkeys occurs during the reproductive season, and hunting activity influences male behaviors and calling. Because roost sites are important for wild turkey ecology, we evaluated roost site selection and fidelity of male turkeys relative to land cover types, vegetative characteristics, and the presence of hunting activity during 2017–2018 in Georgia, USA. Prior to onset of hunting, males selected roosts nearest to hardwood and pine (Pinus spp.) forests. Roost site fidelity was low and distances between roosts were large. After onset of hunting, males selected pine forests less and exhibited greater plasticity in roost selection while fidelity remained minimal, suggesting that males may have altered selection to mitigate risk from hunting while maintaining the strategy of moving about their ranges and roosting at different sites on consecutive nights. Future research should examine potential effects of hunting‐induced shifts in resource selection on other aspects of male turkey behavior and ecology. © 2019 The Wildlife Society.