Category Books

Studies of the Wild Turkey in Florida »

Authors: Lovett E. Williams, David H. Austin
ISBN-13: 9780813024301, ISBN-10: 0813024307
Format: Paperback
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Date Published: December 1988
Edition: (Non-applicable)

Author Biography: Lovett E. Williams

Book Synopsis

	List of Figures	ix
	List of Tables	xv
	Preface	xix
Chapter 1	Study Areas and General Methods	1
	Study areas
	Fisheating Creek	1
	Lochloosa	6
	Capture methods
	Procedures Common to Most Capture Methods	10
	Establishing a Bait Site	10
	Observation Blinds	11
	Handling Live Turkeys	12
	Confining Live Turkeys	14
	Shipping	20
	Releasing Live Turkeys	20
	Using Cannon Nets	20
	Prebaiting	21
	Setting the Net	22
	Firing the Net	23
	Care of Equipment	23
	Cannon Net Materials	26
	Using Oral Tranquilizers	27
	Bait Sites for Oral Drugs	30
	Preparing and Presenting Baits	31
	Narcosis	32
	Pickup and Handling	33
	Side Effects of Drugs	36
	Response to Drugs by Age and Sex	36
	Weather Conditions	38
	Capturing Flightless Poults	38
	Capturing Hens on Their Nests	40
	Banding and Other Marking	40
Chapter 2	Physical Characteristics	50
	Molts and Plumages
	Age Determination Methods	52
	General Plumage and Molts	53
	Plumage at the Time of Hatching	53
	Postnatal Molt and Acquisition of Juvenal Plumage	55
	Postjuvenal Molt and Acquisition of First Winter Plumage	57
	First Winter Plumage	64
	Annual Molt	68
	Molting Differences Among Populations	76
	Indicators of Age and Sex other than Plumage
	Droppings	77
	Beard and Spur Length	78
	Color of the Beard Tip	78
	Head and Neck Coloring and Feathering	79
	Color of the Tarsometatarsus
	Age, Sex, and Subspecies of Material Used	81
	Color Changes After Death	82
	Color Changes With Age of the Bird	83
	Color Variation of the Tarsus Caused by Other Factors	84
	Anomalies in Tarsus Color	84
	Spur and Nail Color	84
	Summary of Tarsus and Foot Coloration	85
	Anomalous Physical Characteristics
	Plumage Coloration	85
	Hens with Spurs and Beards	88
	Multiple Spurs on Gobblers	89
	Multiple Beards	91
	Absence of Beard and Spurs in Males	91
	Male-type Plumage in Females	92
Chapter 3	Reproductive Behavior and Performance of the Hen	93
	Egg Covering and Nest Construction	96
	Laying Posture	99
	Multiple Nesting	99
	Egg Dropping	100
	Nest Attendance During the Laying Period	100
	Clutch Size	103
	Renesting	105
	Nest Disturbance by Man	105
	Incubating Behavior	105
	Nest Attendance During the Incubation Period	107
	The Incubation Period	111
	Hatching Behavior	112
	Egg Hatchability	114
	The Imprinting Period	114
	Time of Nest Departure by Broods	116
	Hatching Synchrony	116
	Attendance of Infertile Eggs	117
	Nesting Habitat	117
	Nesting Seasonality	121
	Nesting Success and Predation	123
	Defensive Behavior	126
Chapter 4	Life History and Other Observations	129
	Roosting of Young Broods
	Preflight Roosts	130
	Roosts in Trees	131
	Movement Between Roosts	133
	Early Morning Behavior on the Roost	135
	Flight Attainment	136
	Foods	137
	Summer Movement of Hens with Broods	145
	Defensive Behavior of Young Broods
	Huddling	148
	Freezing Posture of the Poults	149
	Regrouping	149
	Poult Losses During the Ground Roosting Period	151
	Wariness and Fear of Man	154
	Hazards of Rain and High Water	157
	Homing Tendency	158
	Maximum Longevity Observed	160
	Maximum Movement Observed	160
	Imprinting Studies
	Dispersal	162
	Nesting	162
	Precocious Strutting	163
	Other Observations on Human-imprinted Turkeys	164
	Movement in Relation to Habitat Quality	165
	Utilization of Forest Openings	167
Chapter 5	Harvest Management	168
	Harvest Patterns on a Heavily Hunted Area
	Overall Harvest	171
	Harvest Rates of Relocated Turkeys	172
	Harvest Rate by Age Class	172
	Harvest Rate by Sex	173
	Test of Hunting Skills	175
	The "Caution Effect"	177
	Crippling Losses	179
	Escape and Dispersal Behavior	179
	Further Discussion on Hunting Pressure	184
	Limited Quota Spring Gobbler Hunting Season
	Setting the Harvest Goal	189
	Finding Criteria for Hunter Density	189
	Determining Hunting Effects on Turkeys	190
	Measuring Hunter Satisfaction	190
	Timing of the Open Season	190
	Quota Permit Procedures	191
	Summary of Hunting Regulations	191
	Weekend Versus Weekday Hunting Success	192
	Effect of Hunter Density	192
	Gobbling Activity During the Hunts	192
	Interviews With Successful Hunters	194
	Experienced Hunter Survey	194
	Hunter Satisfaction With the Hunts	196
	No-show Hunter Survey	198
	Disturbance of Hens	198
	Spring Harvest Rates
	Illegal Hen Kill	199
	Gobbler Harvest	201
	Standard Kill Index
	Index Based on Days Open to Hunting	201
	Index Based on Man-days of Hunting	202
	Recommendations for Spring Hunting on WMAs	203
Chapter 6	Synopsis of Research and Management Needs	207
	Gobbler-only Fall Hunting	207
	Tagging System	208
	Legal Shot Sizes and Gauges	209
	Hunting Closure in West Florida	209
	Ingredients of Satisfying Hunting	209
	Habitat Improvement	210
	Timing of the Spring Gobbler Season	210
	Population Model	210
	Poult Survival	211
	Census Method	211
	Harvest Estimates	211
	Law Enforcement Needs	212
	Other Needs	213
	A Management and Research Philosophy	214
	Appendix	215
	Experimental Regulations at Lykes Fisheating Creek Wildlife Management Area	215
	Dates of Hunts	216
	Open Season	217
	Literature Cited & Publications of the Turkey Project	219
	Index	230