Category

Wild Turkey

The wild turkey saw dramatic declines in Texas in the late 1800s and early 1900s. However, harvest limits started in 1903, followed by multi-decade reintroduction efforts that began in 1924, resulting in solid recoveries, even in suburban areas, by the current day.

Interviews

Narrator: John BurkTitle: Lacey ActDuration: 00:02:31Date: March 20, 2024John Burk is a biologist who has worked both as the Turkey Program Leader at Texas Parks and Wildlife, and as a biologist with the National Wild Turkey Federation. Here he tells how the Federation set up a system to allow states to trade wildlife for restoration against dollars for park acquisition programs, without violating the federal Lacey Act's ban on sales of wildlife across state lines.Narrator: John BurkTitle: Bugs and PoultsDuration: 00:03:43Date: March 20, 2024John Burk is a biologist who has focused on wild turkey management for Texas Parks and Wildlife, and later for the National Wild Turkey Federation. Here he points to the lack of insects as a reason for the fall in poult survival, and for decreases in wild turkey numbers in general. Mr. Burk attributes the bug declines at least in part to neonicotinoid pesticide use, but recommends managing land for native plants and early succession as a way to help insect and turkey populations.Narrator: Jim DicksonTitle: Locked GateDuration: 00:02:09Date: February 19, 2024Dr. Jim Dickson worked as a research biologist with the U.S. Forest Service's Southern Research Station in Nacogdoches and as an adjunct professor at several universities. During his career, he studied southern forest ecosystems, with a special interest in wild turkeys. His surveys in the 1970s found that restocked turkeys reestablished well if there was protection against overhunting.Narrator: Jim DicksonTitle: Yardbirds and CheeriosDuration: 00:02:39Date: February 19, 2024Dr. Jim Dickson worked for many years as a biologist at the U.S. Forest Service's Southern Research Station in Nacogdoches. He helped with reintroductions of wild turkeys in Texas and was pleased with how restored populations initially got reestablished. However, he was later surprised by how they curiously declined in traditional habitat, while actually growing in some suburban areas.Narrator: Jim DicksonTitle: Yelps, Clucks and PurrsDuration: 00:03:56Date: February 19, 2024Dr. Jim Dickson, a former research wildlife biologist at the U.S. Forest Service's Southern Research Station in Nacogdoches, is also a three-time Texas Wild Turkey Calling Champion. Here he explains how he uses boxes, diaphragms, and slates to call turkeys in with yelps, clucks, and purrs.Narrator: Jason HardinTitle: Predator ControlDuration: 00:02:44Date: March 18, 2024Jason Hardin is a wildlife biologist who serves as the Turkey Program Leader for Texas Parks and Wildlife. Here he shares his thoughts about the value of predator control to boost turkey populations. He recognizes that there may be a place for managing predation, but points out landowners' need to first focus on providing space and usable habitat for the birds, and second, the need for them to understand that killing many major turkey predators, including crows and birds of prey, is illegal.Narrator: Jason HardinTitle: BarriersDuration: 00:03:09Date: March 18, 2024In his role as Turkey Program Leader at Texas Parks and Wildlife, Jason Hardin has seen the impact of habitat fragmentation on turkey populations in the state. Here, he describes how roads such as I-35 or Highway 82, or reservoirs like Toledo Bend, or areas of yaupon thicket or Bermuda and Bahiagrass pasture, block the movement and propagation of these birds.Narrator: Jason HardinTitle: Bermuda and BahiagrassDuration: 00:04:46Date: March 18, 2024Jason Hardin, a wildlife biologist and the Turkey Program Leader at Texas Parks and Wildlife, explains how the transition from prairies of native bunch grass and forbs to pastures of exotic, mat-forming grasses, like Bermuda and Bahia, has posed a serious problem for wild turkeys. Young, small poults are unable to navigate the uncut carpetgrasses, and when the pastures are cut for hay, are highly exposed to predators.