Are Turkeys Impacting Ruffed Grouse?
This is one of the most frequently asked questions during my tenure as a regional biologist. For those of us who have sought both of these game birds, the answer appears quite easy. Wild turkeys prefer habitats that are more mature and open than the dense forest cover essential to ruffed grouse. As we have often relayed, data clearly show that young-forest habitat has declined across much of the range of ruffed grouse while increases are occurring in mature forest habitat. But there may be more to it than that. Turkeys, for instance, are known to eat a variety of foods including snakes and frogs. Could they eat a grouse chick? Sure, but how often are they available? Young grouse can fly proficiently by the time they are three weeks old. Often when threatened, a brood will flush in all directions and then find cover and hide. This makes them almost impossible for any predator, especially a turkey with its poor sense of smell, to locate. It is doubtful that these species compete with eac
