In the face of declining populations across the United States, many landowners are looking for ways to improve habitats and protect turkey populations on their land. The off-season months are a great time for landowners to employ land management strategies to bolster turkey populations and increase their chances of survival.

During a recent episode of the National Land Podcast, Jason Lupardus from Turkeys For Tomorrow shared insights on factors that contribute to healthy turkey habitats as well as what landowners can do to create these habitats on their properties.

Here’s what to know!

What Makes Good Turkey Habitats?

One of the largest factors in good turkey habitat beyond reliable access to food sources is cover and protection. Creating areas on a property where turkeys can nest and be concealed from would-be predators is one of the most important things a landowner can do to protect their turkey populations.

Many people think that a wide open field is good turkey habitat because they’re often seen strutting in these areas. The problem is that these open fields leave turkeys vulnerable to predators, especially aerial predators. According to Lupardus, there are some places in the United States where 30% of adult and juvenile turkey mortality can be attributed to avian predators like hawks and owls.

When it comes to desirable traits in turkey habitats, Lupardus explained, “The ideal habitat for turkeys has a sea of understory where they can hide and get away underneath things. The likelihood of birds being picked off goes down dramatically. By managing your property correctly, you’re not just helping turkeys but a bunch of other species as well and you’re deterring predators since these wildlife species have more cover and protection.”

What Can Landowners Do?

On top of typical property management activities like thinning timber, prescribed burns, and planting food plots, there are a few turkey-specific management practices that landowners should keep in mind when trying to create healthy turkey habitats during the offseason.

Wait to Mow Until July

One of the easiest ways to protect turkey populations and improve habitats on a property is by waiting until later in the summer to mow fields. Mowing down tall grasses eliminates protection for roosting birds, especially early in the season when poults are just hatching.

Lupardus explained this, stating, “Just wait, because right now these hens are still in the next so you’re likely going to run over a hen or a nest and kill her or the poults. If the poults have hatched, their survival mechanism is to sit down and sit tight, so they get chewed up by the mower until they can fly. I’d much rather people wait to mow until July rather than in May or June. Just be smart about it, and think about how you can divvy up the mowing and maximize some habitats to support the birds.”

He went on to recommend mowing on a two-year rotation. Landowners can preserve habitats where wildlife feel comfortable and thrive by waiting until later in the summer and alternating mowing years.

Provide Access to Grit

Since turkeys don’t have teeth or a means of breaking down food before swallowing and digesting, they require “grit” in the form of dirt or small rocks to break up their food for digestion. Lupardus spoke to this aspect of turkey habitat, stating, “Turkeys are gallinaceous birds which means they need to have grit to break down everything in their crops. They also do a ton of dusting to help with mites and other ectoparasites. So it’s important to keep a little bare dirt. A good site for turkeys will have some of that good cover adjacent next to some bare dirt, so they can go out, dust, get some grit, and then get back to the cover.”

Leaving patches of bare dirt near tall grass fields will allow turkeys access to grit without needing to leave their safe areas, reducing the amount of time spent exposed to potential predators. 

If you’ve got questions about protecting turkeys or creating sustainable habitats for turkeys on your property, get in contact with Turkeys For Tomorrow or reach out to your local Land Professional today!