DEM wants people to report turkey sightings
Dee DeQuattro
If you see a turkey the DEM wants to know.
The Department of Environmental Management is asking Rhode Islanders who see a turkey hen with or without broods of young turkeys to call and report it.
The state agency is attempting to evaluate the year's reproduction of wild turkeys, the survival of the young, and the state's flock population.
Last year the public reported 198 turkey brood sightings. “These reports helped document another year of improved productivity for the wild turkey, with 75 percent of the reports being of hens that had young,” said Brian Tefft, principal wildlife biologist at DEM.
The DEM has noticed that the population of wild turkey has been declining. The DEM says that the 2012 brood index of 2.6 young per hen surviving until fall was 25% lower than the 10-year average of 3.5 young per hen.
The overall state population is estimated to be 3,500 birds.
To report wild turkey sightings, hens with or without broods, participants should record the date, location, and the total number of hens and poults seen. The Turkey Brood Report Form Brood is available on DEM's website at www.dem.ri.gov, under Timely Topics on the homepage.
Participants in the survey are asked to send reports via email to brian.tefft@dem.ri.gov, or mail completed brood report forms to Brian Tefft, c/o Wild Turkey Project, DEM
Division of Fish & Wildlife, 277 Great Neck Road, West Kingston, RI 02892.
(c) WLNE-TV 2013
