Tom Tatum is the outdoors columnist for the MediaNews Group. “We really look forward to it expanding this winter.” “The public was so helpful last year and even helped with monitoring sites and trapping,” Casalena said. In respecting the PGC’s request, I reported to the user-friendly website and filed my turkey report which included the number of turkeys sighted, the location, and my own contact information.Ĭasalena added that last winter’s Wild Turkey Sighting Survey was extremely useful to staff for locating trappable flocks. Fortunately, Pennsylvanians have a history of helping in this way. “It is the largest turkey project we’ve ever conducted, with the hope of answering many questions regarding current turkey population dynamics,” Casalena said.įinding birds to trap is key to accomplishing the work. Biologists from Maryland, New Jersey and Ohio joined the study this year as well. Researchers from Penn State University and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wildlife Futures Program will interpret the data collected. The study will continue next winter for both males and females, and continue through 2025 for hens, so that in the end, the Game Commission will monitor more than 400 females and more than 200 males. This is accomplished by collecting blood, tracheal, feces and skin from turkeys that receive backpack-style transmitters at the time of capture. The disease portion of the study is examining how disease prevalence varies based on landscape and impacts things like the survival and nesting rates of hens of different ages. The population and movement portion of that work is looking at how landscape and weather impact hen nest rates, nest success, poult survival, predation, habitat use and movement. These studies are being done in partnership with Penn State University and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wildlife Futures Program. “We’re studying turkey population and movement dynamics, disease prevalence, and other aspects that may limit populations” Casalena said. New on this year’s leg bands is a website for directly reporting the information into the database. Hunters who harvest one of those turkeys, or people who find one dead, are asked to report the band number by either calling the toll-free number or emailing the Game Commission using the email address on the band. Just like the last three winters, the Game Commission will put leg bands on male turkeys statewide. Trapping turkeys during winter is part of the PGC’s ongoing population monitoring as well as a large-scale turkey study. In four Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) some also will be outfitted with GPS transmitters, then released back on site to be monitored over time. Turkeys will not be moved they’ll simply be leg banded and released on site. Game Commission crews will visit sites to assess them for the potential to trap turkeys. Visitors to that webpage will be asked to provide the date of the sighting, the location, and the type of land (public, private or unknown) where birds are seen, among other things. Information is being collected online at. The agency is encouraging Pennsylvanians to report the location of any turkey flocks they see between now and March 15. That’s right, the PGC is asking for the public’s help finding turkey flocks to trap for ongoing turkey projects, and with some trace of irony, it turns out we have at least one good sized flock right here in Chesco. From my truck window I counted 22 birds in that same field both days, the most turkeys I had ever encountered in almost 56 years of Chesco residency.Īnd in a moment of sheer serendipity, on January 4, the second day I crossed paths with that flock, the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) put out a press release requesting the public to report any sightings of turkey flocks. But no, these birds were definitely wild turkeys, a mix of hens, Jakes, and bearded gobblers. But on January 3 and again on January 4, I crossed paths with flocks so large that at first glance I thought they might be Canada geese, a species that commonly blankets so many of our fields and lawns this time of year. Over the past few years while driving our neighborhood’s back roads I’ve observed occasional local turkey activity, usually consisting of small groups of up to six or eight birds. No, these big bronze birds were home grown, and resided right here in Chester County within a few miles of my Northbrook neighborhood. The unusual thing about this flock was that I didn’t spot them in some remote, upstate location. As the new year got under way, I was treated to an extraordinarily rare sight: A large flock of some two dozen wild turkeys feeding in an open field.
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