I am a PhD student at Trent University studying wild turkey populations in the Peterborough area. More specifically, I study wild turkey social structure and behaviour. Part of my research is to investigate the usefulness of platforms such as eBird and iNaturalist in estimating wild turkey population size.
I am running a pilot project this winter in Peterborough County and am requesting that folks submit wild turkey sightings by either adding observations to eBird or by submitting photos of any flocks seen to the Peterborough Wild Turkey Count project on iNaturalist (you’ll need to join the project first). You can add observations on your computer by following either of the links below, or through the eBird or iNaturalist mobile apps.
eBird: http://ebird.org/
iNaturalist: https://www. inaturalist.org/projects/peterborough-wild-turkey-count
On either platform, the most important information to include is a) where you saw the wild turkey(s), and b) how many wild turkeys you saw. We are especially interested in observations submitted between December 1st, 2017 and March 31st, 2018. Eventually, I hope to expand this project and explore whether citizen science platforms can be applied to estimate wild turkey population size for larger areas, such as province of Ontario – so stay tuned! Thank you in advance for any and all wild turkey observations you’re able to contribute this winter. I am hoping to gather as many observations as possible, so please spread the word!
Happy sighting!
Jenn Baici jenniferbaici@trentu.ca
Wild Turkeys – Wasyl Bakowsky
