Major foods are hard mast (acorns, pine, and hackberry seeds), grains (corn, wheat, milo), grass and sedge leaves and seeds, green forage (forbs), soft mast (dogwood), and animal matter (Dickson 1992). Consequently, food habits vary seasonally, annually, and regionally. It is an opportunistic forager and is adaptable to changing food conditions brought on by weather, land-use changes, and plant production schedules (i.e., agriculture). Findings from previous studies suggest that Wild Turkey habitat selection and use are most often affected by available food resources. The Wild Turkey requires four basic habitat components to survive: nesting cover, suitable brood habitat, quality roosting sites, and dependable food sources (Kubisiak et al. Winter Habitat: South facing slopes and springs, open oak forests with available acorn mast, standing agricultural corn and unplowed stubble, fields with spread manure, fallow fields and native prairies, savannas, and other mixed forest.Foraging: Ground glean (Ehrlich et al.Nesting Dates: Eggs: early April through late May incubation lasts 25-29 days and hatching occurs from early May through late June.Nest: Shallow depression usually concealed in grass or shrubs and lined with leaves and grass.Breeding Habitat: Oak Opening, Scrub Oak, Grassland-shrub, Fallow Field, Hay, Pastures, Idle Warm Season Grasses and Forbs, Idle Cool Season Grasses and Forbs.Breeding Range: Southern Canada south through the U.S. WSO Checklist Project: increasing (1983-2007).Federal Breeding Bird Survey (BCR 12): significant increase*.
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