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Articles

Vol. 40 No. 4 (2009)

FOOD HABITS OF WILD TURKEYS IN NATIONAL FORESTS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND CENTRAL OREGON

Submitted
November 27, 2025
Published
October 1, 2009

Abstract

We studied the diet of the Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) in five national forests in northern California and two national forests in central Oregon by collecting turkey droppings and analyzing them for specific food items. In all national forests the diet included insects; in all but one it included grasses. We analyzed the diet by sex and season and found that it varied seasonally and that females from California consumed more insects than did males. Seeds made up a small percentage of the diet in most national forests but constituted a majority of the diet in the Tahoe National Forest in California.

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