Spatial and temporal variation in female wild turkey roost‐site selection

Nocturnal roost sites are a resource requirement for wild turkeys ( Meleagris gallopavo spp.; hereafter, wild turkey). Appropriate roost sites lessen predation risk and provide thermal protection from extreme weather. We assessed roost‐site selection by female eastern wild turkeys ( M. g. silvestris ) in relation to distance to roads, water, and openings on privately owned properties across the 3 ecoregions of North Carolina, USA. We captured and monitored 355 individuals and collected 64,924 roost locations from 2020–2022. We classified locations as occurring during the leaf‐on (15 March to 31 October) or leaf‐off (1 November to 14 March) seasons, which were based roughly on the phenology of deciduous trees. We created individual home ranges using autocorrelated kernel density estimates and generated a number of random locations within forested land cover equal to the number of roost locations within each home range. We used backwards stepwise selection to identify predictors of roost‐site selection relative to what was available at random locations. The most parsimonious generalized linear model according to Akaike's Information Criterion included year, leaf season, region (Mountain, Piedmont, Coastal Plain), distance to water, road, and openings (i.e., combined non‐forested landcover – including Barren Land, Shrub/Scrub, Grassland/Herbaceous, Sedge/Herbaceous, Pasture/Hay, and Cultivated Crops). The top‐ranked model also included an interaction between leaf season and distance to road and an interaction between leaf season and distance to opening. Female wild turkeys selected roost locations closer to roads and open land cover than random during the leaf‐on season but not during the leaf‐off season. Female wild turkeys roosted closer to water ( = −0.199, SE = 0.006) than random across leaf seasons and regions. Selection was consistent across regions, so region‐specific roost conservation efforts are likely unnecessary across landscapes comparable to those in our study. We recommend land managers in the southeastern United States intersperse forest that provides roosting sites with early succession openings that provide seasonally important foraging, nesting, and brooding cover for female wild turkeys.