Measuring congruence between available and selected vegetation at wild turkey nest sites

Abstract Processes underlying nest‐site selection are often considered drivers influencing wild turkey ( Meleagris gallopavo ssp.) nest success. Thus, decisions by females to identify nest sites should govern all other components of reproductive habitat selection as female wild turkeys will be tied to nest locations for the duration of the reproductive period. Our objective was to determine if differential selection for vegetation characteristics was occurring on the first day of egg laying. We evaluated vegetation conditions at nest sites and travel paths used by 131 female wild turkeys, monitored across Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas, USA, on the first day of egg laying. We used 164 nesting attempts and measured vegetation at 37,976 locations along 492 movement paths. Average vegetation height at the nest site was met or exceeded at 61–71% of random points along travel paths, whereas visual obstruction was met or exceeded at 22–25% of random points along travel paths. We found no effect of visual obstruction on nest success (β = −0.004, SE = 0.004, P = 0.349). Our results indicate that vegetation conditions selected by wild turkeys at nest sites were generally available on the landscape transversed by female wild turkeys during nest‐site selection. Our results illustrate that adequate nesting conditions, as conventionally measured, may not be as limited across the landscape as previously assumed. We suggest that given the plasticity wild turkeys have in selection of nest sites, future research activities should reduce focus on nest‐site vegetation sampling and increase focus on how nest success may be affected by nesting female behavioral activities.