Foraging ecology of wild turkey broods in Kansas

Abstract

Complex landscape-specific interactions among predation, starvation, and hunting pressure influence game bird populations. The wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is an economically important gamebird in Kansas, yet their reproductive success has declined, reflecting regional population trends. Poult survival is a key driver of recruitment, as wild turkey poults experience a survival bottleneck during the first 2 weeks of life, when they are flightless, and have high protein demands to sustain growth and development. To meet protein demands, poults rely heavily on arthropods that can vary in abundance due to landscape characteristics. Thus, selecting foraging habitats that provide sufficient food resources is important for poult survival, which exerts momentous influence on wild turkey population dynamics. Despite this understanding, there is a lack of information regarding diet and foraging habitat selection during this critical life stage in Kansas. Past studies of wild turkey diets have used traditional methods (crop dissection, fecal dissection, and observation), which are invasive, fail to detect soft-bodied prey items, and limited in taxonomic resolution. DNA metabarcoding is a molecular approach that addresses these limitations. Therefore, my objectives were to characterize diets of wild turkey broods using DNA metabarcoding, and evaluate how habitat characteristics, plant nutrient availability, and arthropod communities influence brood foraging site selection. I captured, marked with transmitters, and monitored wild turkey brood-rearing females in Kansas during 2024–2025 (n = 400). During weekly brood survival surveys, I collected fecal samples (n = 299) from brood-rearing females, associated poults, and opportunistic samples. I examined diets of wild turkey adults and poults during this critical brood rearing period using DNA metabarcoding and related prey consumption to the habitat where fecal samples were collected. I used location data to compare habitat characteristics, plant nutrient availability and arthropod communities among used (n = 150) and available (n = 282) foraging sites. I hypothesized a bottom-up conceptual relationship that I fit into a piecewise structural equation model to investigate drivers of brood foraging site selection incorporating habitat characteristics, arthropod metrics, and plant nutrient availability. Overall, the dominant orders detected in wild turkey diets, based on frequency of occurrence (n = 299), were Hemiptera (70%), Orthoptera (60%), Coleoptera (58%), Lepidoptera (57%), and Diptera (45%). At the species level, DNA metabarcoding revealed Cicadettana calliope (Southern grass cicada) and Neotibicen pruinosus (Scissor grinder cicada) were the most frequently consumed species for all age groups. Plant material consumed matched what was available across the landscape. Among study regions, arthropod species composition in diets varied for brood-rearing females and opportunistic samples, whereas brood-rearing females and poults shared similar diets. Woody cover correlated with the consumption of cicada (Hemiptera) and moth (Lepidoptera) species, whereas grass cover correlated with the consumption of grasshopper (Orthoptera) and spider (Araneae) species within habitats where fecal samples were collected. Foraging habitats were characterized by greater forb cover, plant nutrient quality, horizontal visual obstruction (0.00–0.50 m) and arthropod morphospecies richness. Plant nutrient quality, particularly phosphorus and crude protein, combined with arthropod morphospecies richness directly influenced brood foraging site selection. Vegetation composition and structure did not directly influence selection at a fine scale (10 m); instead, their effect was mediated through arthropod morphospecies richness and plant nutrient availability. These findings indicate resource-mediated selection, where wild turkey broods respond more strongly to the availability of food resources at fine spatial scales than to vegetation structure or composition alone. In summary, this was the first known wild turkey diet study to use DNA metabarcoding, uncovering prey items that have not been previously described. At a fine-scale, foraging habitat selection was influenced by resource availability more than the compositional and structural components. Conservation that creates early successional habitats will be the most beneficial in supporting a wild turkey broods life cycle. In my study system, early successional habitats were defined by greater forb cover, intermediate herbaceous cover, and greater arthropod richness, ultimately driven by disturbance. Landowners and managers could utilize disturbance regimes (grazing, fire) that create beneficial foraging habitats, while accommodating for nesting and roosting habitats needed during the reproductive period.