This Turkey Tuesday is about myths related to wild turkeys and their influence on other gamebirds. Every now and then, I come across statements or posts on social media about the potential that wild turkeys have somehow caused declines in other gamebirds, and I’m left scratching my head. For instance, I’ve seen statements suggesting that because wild turkey populations experienced dramatic increases during decades when species like northern bobwhite or ruffed grouse were declining – well, turkeys must be partially responsible for those declines. There are those who say that wild turkeys destroy the nests of quail, pheasants, and ruffed grouse, and even some who claim that turkeys eat quail eggs and chicks! This claim is like one suggesting that toms will trample nests of hens he’s bred with so she will have to mate with him again – the late Lovett Williams wrote humorously about this bizarre nonsense many decades ago. Mind you, there have literally been tens of thousands of wild turkey nests monitored through the past 5 decades, and there is not a single report of a nest being lost because a tom trampled it. Hebert Stoddard, a famous quail researcher, reported in the 1930s that a domestic turkey destroyed and consumed quail eggs. But since that time, despite thousands of quail nests and chicks being monitored, not one has been reported to have been lost to a wild turkey. The same can be said for pheasants and grouse – and decades of research evaluating the diet of the wild turkey has yet to show that they consume any of these critters or their eggs. The take home is, the suggestion that wild turkeys are responsible for destroying and preying on nests of other gamebirds is simply a wives tale lacking any credible support.
Pics by Ron Foltz and Monte Loomis
