It’s 9 AM. Do you know where your turkeys are?

The RI Department of Environmental Management wants to know, too.

"Forest Cluck," one of many turkeys in Charlestown

By Will Collette

For Cathy and I, that’s easy. Last year, we had a brood of 14 turkeys, led by a tough-looking old tom with two young toms and 11 hens living in our back yard and the kettle hole behind us for almost a month.

Each day, the old tom would lead the brood on a promenade around the yard. One of the young males seemed to regularly wander away, though, distracted by his reflection in the side of our car. He was fascinated by the turkey behind the surface of the vehicle. It looked at first like he was pecking at his image – not a good thing for a car finish – but it turned out he was just touching his image without leaving a mark.

When the brood eventually moved on to do its turkey business, this young tom stayed on for most of the summer. I neither encouraged him to stay nor tried to make him leave. Though he should have been getting on with his turkey life, he seemed to have decided our land was his special place.

Occasionally, he would jump up onto our second story deck. Once, I saw him try to imitate the doves and perch on the peak of the roof of the overhang above our front door. Because we have a metal roof and he is one big bird, that attempt to perch didn’t work out so well.

Come fall, though, he moved on to parts unknown.

Just over a month ago, he came back. He made it through the cold months on his own wherever it was that he went, and came back to our land looking fit and vigorous.

Despite all the predators we have on and around our land (one feral cat I spot and chase off regularly and a rare daytime sighting of an honest-to-god fisher cat racing through the woods), he made it.

Every day, it patrols our yard, checking the perimeter, pecking for food and quietly clucking to himself. He checks his image in the side of the car, but not as obsessively as he did last year. Though, again, we do not encourage him to stay or try to make him leave.

Live and let live. But I couldn’t resist naming him – I call him “Forest Cluck” because, let’s face it, turkeys are not the smartest of birds. He’s been molting for the past few days, leaving behind some brilliant feathers.

As much as I would like him to be the wild creature that he is and go ahead and start a brood of his own, I do enjoy his presence as a reminder of the wonderful and rich environment we have here in Charlestown.

But now some business….

DEM is trying to take the measure of the overall vitality of Rhode Island’s turkey population (I was surprised to read that they estimate there are only 3500 in the whole state). They would like the public to help by reporting wild turkey sightings.

Here is their press release that tells you what they are particularly interested in knowing and how to report your sightings

DEM ASKS PUBLIC TO REPORT WILD TURKEY BROOD SIGHTINGS

PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management is asking Rhode Islanders to assist its Division of Fish and Wildlife's wild turkey project by reporting any sightings of wild turkey hens with (or without) broods of young turkeys (poults). DEM biologists need the information to evaluate this year's reproduction of wild turkeys, the survival of the young, and the population of the state's wild turkey flock.

Young turkeys are now hatching, and summer is typically the time when hens and their offspring are most visible to the public. The annual three-month turkey population survey continues through August. 

Last year the public helped by reporting 333 turkey brood sightings, according to Brian Tefft, principal wildlife biologist at DEM and head of the wild turkey project. That information helped DEM determine the number of young birds that survived after various mortality factors such as predators, poor weather, road kills, or domestic cats took their toll. 

"These reports helped document productivity for the wild turkey, with 76 percent of the reports being of hens that had young," said Tefft. The total number of adults reported was 664, while 2,730 poults were reported for a brood index of 4.1 young per hen in the 2011 survey.

The brood index also helps determine turkey population trends. Despite gains in the number of poults seen in the last two years, Tefft noted that we will need several successive years of good productivity to recover the turkey population that has declined overall. The 2009 brood index of 1.5 young per hen surviving until fall was the lowest index ever recorded in the state and was well below the 10-year average of 3.5 young per hen. 

With declining productivity, the overall turkey population in the state has declined in the last few years. Weather-related factors and predators can dramatically affect brood production in ground-nesting birds like wild turkeys. Warm, dry weather favors the survival of turkey poults and other ground-nesting birds, while cool and rainy conditions in early summer can reduce survival and result in dead broods.  

DEM hopes that better conditions will improve production in 2012. The public will help DEM obtain this brood information by reporting observations of turkey broods in their area.

Tefft estimates the overall statewide turkey population at approximately 3,500 birds. The wild turkey population in the state is a direct result of DEM Fish and Wildlife's successful trap and transfer program in the 1990s, improving hunting opportunities and chances for the public to see and hunt wild turkeys. 

The wild turkey restoration project began in 1980 with releases of wild trapped birds that established new turkey flocks in Exeter, Burrillville, Little Compton, West Greenwich, Foster, Scituate, and Tiverton. 

Restoration of the wild turkey was funded by state hunting license fees and the Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration program. Wild turkeys were abundant prior to the 1700s but were decimated due to habitat destruction and subsistence hunting.

To report wild turkey sightings, hens with or without broods, participants should record the date, the location, and the total number of hens and poults seen. Brood report forms can be downloaded from DEM's website at: http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bnatres/fishwild/pdf/turkysee.pdf.

Participants in the survey are asked to send reports via email to brian.tefft@dem.ri.gov, or by mailing brood report forms to Brian Tefft, Wild Turkey Project, 277 Great Neck Road, West Kingston, RI 02892.