eWestern Birds
The Quarterly Journal of Western Field Ornithologists
Food Habits of Wild Turkeys in National Forests of Northern California and Central Oregon
Greta M. Wengert, Mourad W. Gabriel, Ryan L. Mathis, and Thomas Hughes
ABSTRACT: We studied the diet of the Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) in five national forests in northern California and two national forests in central Oregon by collecting turkey droppings and analyzing them for specific food items. In all national forests the diet included insects; in all but one it included grasses. We analyzed the diet by sex and season and found that it varied seasonally and that females from California consumed more insects than did males. Seeds made up a small percentage of the diet in most national forests but constituted a majority of the diet in the Tahoe National Forest in California.
Download—Food Habits of Wild Turkeys in National Forests of Northern California and Central Oregon