Eastern Wild Turkey Nest Site Selection in Two Frequently Burned Pine Savannas

We studied nest site selection on sites managed intensively with prescribed fire.  We found that nests were 27% more likely to occur with every 4 inch increase in vegetation height at the nest site, and 19% less likely to occur with every 10% increase in canopy closure.  Our findings suggest that management of pine savannas for turkey nest sites should focus on creating and maintaining early-successional vegetation to conceal nests from potential predators. In other words, you need areas not burned in a mosaic of patches to ensure there’s adequate nest cover on sites intensively managed with fire.