If you see a family of turkeys crossing the road, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department would like to know. As the summer winds down and young turkeys begin to mature, wildlife officials are reminding residents about their annual citizen science turkey count.
Fish and Game keeps a close watch on the state’s turkeys. They were once threatened by overhunting and habitat destruction in New Hampshire, but the birds have been recovering since the seventies, thanks to a reintroduction program. And residents can help make sure they’re okay.
Members of the public can log turkey sightings on the Fish and Game website if they see a turkey hen with her young. State biologists would like to know if the cold snaps this spring spelled troubled for young turkeys or not says Kent Gustafson, Wildlife Programs Administrator at Fish and Game.
“The public—there’s obviously a lot more of them than there are of us. Getting help from them to observe these turkeys greatly increases the number of observations.”
Typically, they get thousands of sightings each summer. And now is a crucial period for determining how the turkeys are doing, so keep an eye out.
