Earth Talk: What's causing decline in turkey population?

Dear EarthTalk: What’s causing the decline in U.S. wild turkey populations?

– John Groveton, Alexandria, Virginia

Answer: Americans have always loved wild turkeys, perhaps too much. By 1900, we had nearly driven this close relative to the chicken to extinction as a result of unregulated hunting and habitat destruction.

But thanks to conservation and relocation efforts, these big birds started making a comeback in the 1940s. Over the next several decades, thanks to a series of reforms and demographic changes, wild turkey numbers grew and the species hit its population peak in 2004 with as many as 7 million of them across the U.S. All this made wild turkeys one of the biggest success stories in the history of American wildlife.

But will it last? Since that population peak, wild turkey numbers have fallen, declining some 15% between 2004-2014 and another 3% between 2014-2019. Biologists are struggling to determine why. Much of this decline has been in the South and the Midwest. Scientists have been investigating habitat loss, hunting, disease and climate change as possible causes of this population downturn.

One of the potential reasons for the decline is the rise in turkey-eating predators. Hawks, bobcats, coyotes and raccoons are among wild turkeys’ natural predators. Hawks and owls are protected species and have had significant rebounds since the federal government banned the use of the pesticide DDT. This protection has allowed populations of birds of prey to grow, but they are also key predators of turkeys. This increase in predators could be one of the sources of the turkey decline.

Turkeys have very specific requirements when it comes to their environment, so habitat loss could be another factor of their decline. Turkeys need areas of low, thick vegetation for...