By R.J. Mackie, R.F. Batchelor, M.E. Majerus, J.P. Weigand, and V.P. Sundberg
The Merriam’s turkey is a native of the pine-oak woodlands of Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Merriam’s turkey habitat is generally open ponderosa pine woodlands in rugged terrain. Turkeys have been most successful in woodlands where about one-half of the vegetative cover consists of ponderosa pine with the remaining half being grasses, deciduous trees, and shrubs in scattered openings and drainageways throughout the woodland.
In summer, grasslands receive a great deal of use by turkeys. During winter, turkeys move into lower drainages that are occupied by deciduous trees and shrubs. Properly distributed small openings and a mosaic of vegetative types that maximize the edge effect are essential elements of good turkey habitat.
Food
Merriam’s turkeys eat a wide variety of nuts, seeds, fruits, tubers, flower heads, green leaves, and insects. When available, the seeds of ponderosa pine are a preferred food. Fruits and berries in the turkey’s diet vary from year to year depending on their availability. Cultivated grain--oats, barley, and wheat--are eaten when available, especially during winter. Frequently, the better turkey populations occur in the vicinity of grain fields. Snowberry, bearberry, hawthorn, serviceberry, chokecherry, and rose hips are eagerly taken by turkeys as are grasshoppers and spiders. A number of turkey populations subsist through the winter on grain provided by landowners.
Habitat Management Suggestions
Management of wild turkey habitat depends on the maintenance of relatively open stands of ponderosa pine with adequate ground cover and a variety of age classes from pole size to mature and over-mature trees.
Selective cutting when harvesting timber to preserve roost trees; thinning dense sapling stands, creating small openings during harvest; seeding of grasses and legumes in woodland openings, skid trails, and haul roads following logging; prescribed burning to reduce understory debris; and providing water where unavailable are practices beneficial to wild turkeys.