Turkey Brood Survey
The annual turkey brood survey is open to public participation July 1 to Aug. 31 of each year.
Help wildlife biologists count wild turkeys in Nebraska each summer. The annual turkey brood survey is open to public July 1 to Aug. 31, and your recorded observations are important to our turkey management.
Instructions
- Record only wild turkeys seen in JULY and AUGUST.
- Record all wild turkeys seen including hens, poults, males and unknown turkeys that you couldn’t classify and enter the number of each for each observation.
- Record each observation on a single line and do not group multiple sightings together.
- Record the date and county of each observation.
- Check the “Seen Before” box if you believe you have recorded the turkey(s) before. If you see the group regularly, recording them once or twice is fine. No need to record them daily.
- Submit your observations via the online recording platform or email the downloadable paper form.
Why count turkeys?
Turkey brood surveys provide useful estimates about annual production by wild turkey hens and the survival of young turkeys, or poults, through the summer brood-rearing period. Nest success and summer brood survival are the primary factors influencing wild turkey population trends. Summer brood information is essential for sound turkey management. Information gathered through the survey includes:
• Average brood sizes (poults per documented brood).
• Percentage of adult hens with poults.
• Percentage of males in the adult portion of the population.
• Annual Production Index (PI) = total number of poults/total number of adult hens.
These indices are looked at on an annual basis and can be compared. These survey results and comparisons between years help managers to understand if and why populations are succeeding or not.
Brood survey results
We have released Nebraska Turkey Brood Survey Reports each year since 2020. The report includes information from both the Nebraska Turkey Brood Survey and the Rural Mail Carrier Survey. Together, they are useful in describing turkey populations within the state and help inform management decisions.
