Survival, harvest, and population size of Rio Grande wild turkeys in Texas

Use of band recovery data combined with estimates of hunter harvests provides a foundation for estimation of abundance and population trajectory for a variety of wildlife species. We banded 3,141 Rio Grande wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo intermedia) during 2015-2021 and used band-recovery data to assess annual survival and harvest, and to generate population estimates for male Rio Grande wild turkeys in Texas, USA. Our results indicated male recovery rate was age-specific (adult = 0.095 +/- 0.010 [SE]; juvenile = 0.036 +/- 0.009) and adult and juvenile male annual survival was 0.49 +/- 0.04 and 0.96 +/- 0.14, respectively. Annual survival for adult females (0.68 +/- 0.02) was lower than for juvenile females (0.98 +/- 0.01). Female recovery rates were not different between fall and spring (0.017 +/- 0.004; 0.013 +/- 0.003, respectively) and combined harvest rate was 0.009 +/- 0.006. Male population estimates, based on hunter harvest estimates, exhibited considerable temporal variation, ranging from 328,185 +/- 66,313 in 2016 to 136,700 +/- 27,621 in 2020. Using harvest average over the 7-year study period, we estimated average male abundance was 228,709 +/- 46,213. Female population estimates ranged from 895,556 +/- 635,146 in 2016 to 409,889 +/- 290,702 in 2020. We estimated an average female population of 561,578 +/- 396,507. Researchers and managers should continue banding Rio Grande wild turkeys to assess long-term trends and conduct additional work to confirm the accuracy of harvest estimates in Texas.