Returning neighbors: Eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) occupancy in an urban landscape

Once extirpated from most of its range due to overharvest and habitat loss
in the early 1900s, the eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo
silvestris) has been recolonizing landscapes in the eastern United States
due to restoration and reintroduction efforts. Wild turkey populations
have rebounded in the last 50 years so much so that wild turkey is seen as
one of the most successful conservation efforts in the US. More recently,
wild turkeys have begun to expand into cities across the US. While this
can be seen as a successful return of a once extirpated species, it has
also given rise to human-wildlife conflict in highly populated areas.
Given the ecological differences between urban and rural ecosystems, it is
important for conservation and management efforts to understand how wild
turkey use urban landscapes. We used cameras deployed at 75 long-term
study sites across the Washington, D.C. region to assess occupancy and
habitat use of urban wild turkey at multiple scales. We found that wild
turkey occupancy was positively correlated with the distance to roadways
and the proportion of natural vegetation cover within 1 km, while
occupancy was negatively correlated with the distance to the nearest water
source and mean canopy height within 4 km. Our findings add to the
understanding of how wild turkeys are returning and using novel urban
ecosystems and can inform future management needs, contribute to
conservation initiatives, and help reduce negative human-wildlife
interactions.