LOCAL

Tier's turkey recovery success facing new threats

MARY PERHAM
Correspondent
  • Efforts to restore wild turkeys in the Southern Tier began about 1948
  • NY's native turkeys began to disappear in the mid-19th century when forests were clear cut
  • NY's wild turkeys had a peak population of about 300,000, but it has declined to about 180,000

A successful conservation effort that restored wild turkeys to the Southern Tier is now seeing the bird's population in decline.

The loss has been attributed to a decrease in habitat, an increase in predators and cold, wet springs and summers that hurt breeding and survival of young. A virus detected five years ago that causes tumors in wild turkeys may also play a role in the population loss. Researchers have found the virus is widespread but less deadly than first feared.

Over-hunting and forest clearing in the late 1800s eradicated the species in New York, but turkeys were re-introduced around 1948 from a small remnant population in Pennsylvania.

As abandoned farms reverted to forest, New York's turkey population reached a high of an estimated 300,000 birds in 2001. The turkey population also expanded at the same time as rabies reduced the number of raccoons and other common nest predators.

"There has been a gradual decline over the past decade, to about 180,000 statewide today," said Mike Schiavone, a wildlife biologist who heads wild turkey research for the Department of Environmental Conservation. The bird's population is at a 15-year low in New York.

Tough birds

With an American history that stretches back centuries, the native bird has nearly unmatchable survival skills, according to Tom Tasber, a naturalist at Cornell Cooperative's 4-H Educational Center at Finch Hollow in Johnson City.

"People may come up on a flock (slowly) crossing the road, and think well, these birds aren't very smart," Tasber said. "But let me tell you. If you got out of your car, or if you were a predator, it's a different story. Most people don't think turkeys can fly. Well, they can. And run. Fast, and I do mean fast."

The birds quickly and easily reach speeds of 40 to 50 m.p.h. in flight, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Turkeys have unusually keen eye sight and sharp hearing, instincts that serve them well against natural predators, Tasber said.

The birds also are unique, because they are primarily ground birds, and omnivorous, according to Ian McLaughlin, a naturalist at Tanglewood Nature Center in Elmira.

The birds also are known for a "second harvest" mentality, often congregating in cow pastures to picking undigested corn and grains from cow manure, McLaughlin said.

"There aren't many species like the turkey," he said. "They are unique. Do they have a special role in the environment? Every species does."

McLaughin said there are no turkeys at Tanglewood, which is located between Elmira and Big Flats. Turkeys have been sighted south of the center, he said.

"It's a little too urban, here," he said.

The birds' ideal habitat includes healthy woodlands, a dairy farm close by, and an open field, according to Cornell's Lab of Ornithology.

These all-season survivalists aren't troubled by cold weather, and have survived temperatures as low as -40 degrees, Tasber said.

"If food is scarce, they'll fly up into sumac trees and stay there," Tasber said. "People will drive by and think, 'Boy, these birds aren't very bright.'"

However, turkeys are not sitting ducks, and their instincts are better than intelligence, outwitting seasoned hunters in full camouflage, said Tasber, a hunter himself.

"People come from all over the world to hunt turkeys," he said. "They are considered that challenging."

Turkey study effort

Eastern wild turkeys had once been exterminated in New York but boomed under restoration efforts in recent decades, so much so that the state's wildlife agency helped re-establish populations throughout the Northeast.

With the population now slowly declining, the state DEC is conducting a study to learn why. The discovery of the virus, which can also cause cancerous growths on the head, liver, spleen, kidneys and lungs, came at a time when the National Wild Turkey Federation said turkey populations had decreased 15 percent across their range that covers most of the eastern U.S. and pockets in the west.

The tumor virus was first detected in New York's wild turkeys in 2012.

"What we discovered after we ramped up testing in the last three years is that prevalence is really high, like 50 percent," said Schiavone, the biologist who heads wild turkey research for the DEC.

The new study eases fears among wildlife managers and hunters that lymphoproliferative disease virus — which can turn a turkey's head into a gruesome mass of scabby tumors and clog its airway — isn't to blame for a drop in the wild turkey population. Researchers said the development of tumors on the head and internal organs is rare. The virus is not contagious to humans, but DEC advises against eating diseased birds.

Katrina Alger, a graduate student at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse, is testing for the virus in blood collected from wild turkeys during banding and bone marrow from the legs of birds sent by hunters.

The virus hasn't been detected in domestic poultry in North America, but some labs in the Northeast are testing backyard flocks to see if they're infected, Brown said. It's not contagious to humans, but DEC advises against eating diseased birds.

"One of the things we need to do moving forward is to try to determine if there are other effects of this virus other than tumors," said Justin Brown, the state wildlife veterinarian for Pennsylvania. Similar viruses in poultry have been found to cause other disease syndromes that leave birds weak and immune-suppressed.

"We also don't know the impact on really young turkeys," Brown said. "That's one of a number of things we still have to evaluate."

Habitat restoration remains an important tool for re-establishing all woodland species, including turkeys and the dwindling number of other ground birds, such as grouse, said Scott Smith, a wildlife biologist for DEC Region 8 in Avon.

Clear-cutting allows forests to undergo "early successional" changes, with new growth leading to the healthy growth of new forests, he said.

"A hundred years ago, the state was 25 percent forest. Now it's, what, 75 (percent)?" he said. "Back then, it wasn't regulated. Now it is. We've had a 180-degree flip, and seedlings, and sapling are a resource we should be encouraging."

Mary Esch of the Associated Press in Albany also contributed to this report.

Be a turkey spotter

If you spot a flock of 15-20 wild turkeys, you can help the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation gather information for its ongoing turkey study. File your report with the regional DEC office for your county.

•Chemung, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne and Yates counties. DEC Region 8 Office, 6274 Avon-Lima Road, Avon. (585)-226-2466

•Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, Oswego, Tioga and Tompkins counties. DEC Region 7 Main Office -- 615 Erie Blvd. West, Syracuse, (315) 426-7400

Turkey facts

•Mature males are about 2.5 feet tall and weigh up to 25 pounds.

•Mature females are smaller than males and weigh 9 to 12 pounds.

•Wingspan: 4 to 5 feet.

•Lifespan: 3 to 4 years in wild.

Turkeys travel in flocks and search on the ground for nuts, berries, insects and snails. They use their strong feet to scratch leaf litter out of the way. In early spring, males gather in clearings to perform courtship displays. They puff up their body feathers, flare their tails into a vertical fan and strut slowly while giving a characteristic gobbling call. At night, turkeys fly up into trees to roost in groups.

Source: Cornell Ornithology Lab; State DEC