Wild Turkey Study

[backpacker]

For Release: IMMEDIATE Contact: Lori O’Connell
Friday, December 21, 2007 (518)
402-8000

DEC BEGINS THIRD SEASON OF WILD TURKEY STUDIES
Banding and Winter Flock Surveys to Begin in January
Landowners Invited to Participate

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
Commissioner Pete Grannis announced today that DEC is preparing for the
third season of two large-scale wild turkey research projects.

The first project is a turkey banding program, done in
cooperation with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Ohio Department of
Natural Resources, Pennsylvania State University, and the National Wild
Turkey Federation (NWTF). The second project is a statewide winter
flock survey. These studies will provide information that DEC
biologists need to help guide future management efforts for this popular
game bird.

The banding program will begin in January, when DEC staff and
cooperators from NWTF will launch a statewide effort to capture wild
turkeys and fit them with metal leg bands bearing a toll-free phone
number for reporting. The objective of the study is to examine hunter
harvest rates, turkey survival rates, and harvest reporting rates across
the state. Banding will be done on public and private lands throughout
the state north of New York City from January through March.

Last year’s effort was highly successful, as staff banded a
total of 383 gobblers (males) and 403 hens (females), increasing the
two-year total to 679 gobblers and 753 hens. One-hundred twenty of the
banded gobblers were reported shot by hunters during the spring 2007
hunting season, of those, 41 birds had been banded in winter 2006 and
79 had been banded in winter 2007. Another nine were harvested by
hunters during the fall 2007 season. Most birds were killed within five
miles of where they were banded, but some birds used in the study have
moved at least 20 miles from where they were banded.

DEC will also continue collecting data on winter turkey flocks
across the state to assess feasibility of a long-term population
monitoring program. DEC hopes to identify several locations in every
county of New York where turkeys can be counted each winter to monitor
population changes. Last winter, observers documented over 500 flocks
throughout the state, including several recently established flocks on
Long Island.

In preparation for both studies, DEC is asking landowners,
hunters, bird watchers and interested participants to report winter
turkey flock locations anywhere in New York State. Observations of
turkey flocks (even a few birds) during mid-December through March can
be reported to the project coordinator for a particular DEC region (see
attached list for regional contacts).

In addition, DEC is looking for landowners who will allow birds
to be trapped, banded, and released on their land. Turkeys will be
trapped and banded and will immediately be released at the same
location. No relocation of the birds will occur.

The Department sincerely thanks all of the cooperating
landowners who actively participated in the turkey banding project or
provided reports of wild turkey flocks last winter.

For more information on either project, please feel free to
contact the project coordinator for your region or contact DEC by e-mail
at [email protected]. Please write “Turkey Study” in the
subject line.

Interested landowners should contact the project coordinator for
their region listed below:

DEC Region Project Coordinator Counties
1 Frederick “Chip” Hamilton
(631) 444-0308
50 Circle Rd.
Stony Brook, NY 11790 Nassau, Suffolk

3 Patricia Vissering
(845) 256-3090
21 South Putt Corners Rd.
New Paltz, NY 12561 Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan,
Ulster and Westchester

4 Karl Parker
(518) 357-2154
1150 N. Westcott Rd.
Schenectady, NY 12306 Albany, Columbia, Delaware, Greene, Montgomery,
Otsego, Rensselaer, Schenectady and Schoharie

5 Melissa Neely
(518) 623-1273
Hudson St. Ext.
Warrensburg, NY 12885 Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton,
Saratoga, Warren and Washington

6 Andy MacDuff
(315) 785-2534
State Office Building
317 Washington St.
Watertown, NY 13601 Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Oneida, St.
Lawrence

7 Lance Clark
(607) 753-3095
1285 Fisher Ave.
Cortland, NY 13045 Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Madison,
Onondaga, Oswego, Tioga and Tompkins


8
Scott Smith
(607) 776-2165x16
7291 Coon Rd.
Bath, NY 14810
Chemung, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler,
Seneca, Steuben, Wayne and Yates

9 Connie Adams
(716) 851-7010
270 Michigan Ave.
Buffalo, NY 14203 Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Niagara
and Wyoming

Central Office Michael Schiavone
(518) 402-8886
625 Broadway, 5th Floor
Albany, NY 12233
Statewide Coordination

[Brenda]

I'm definitely going to contact them and offer my property for a banding site. Maybe they'd let me volunteer to help...

[deerjohn]

they could do some right from my deck. I will keep the coffee on!
this one is a somewhat unusual bearded hen:



I have had as many as 25 at the bird feeders on my deck. Drives my dog crazy!

[Matt]

dearjohn,

to make you images show up, you are getting it half way. The link that you paste in--- just run your mouse across it to highlight the link and then hit the Img button. It should put a few tags ("Img" with [] around it) around the link. There should be no spaces between the tags and the link.

You can either highlight the link and hit the button or just type the tags in. Either way it should make the image show up.

You can hit the edit button on your post above to see what it should look like.

[deerjohn]

thanks, Matt. Read your previous instructions and that is exactly the way I did it, and it was great, except that the pics did not show up. For some of us, nothing is simple as it seems. I will keep trying though.http://www.nyfalls.com/board/posting.ph ... =12&t=1160#

[Matt]

I'm not sure why that link is shoing up at the end of your posts either.

[deerjohn]

I'm not sure either. It comes with the "smiley" icon. Actually, I have no clue.

My turkey count so far: And a 1, and a 2...