Over the years, the wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)
has been widely domesticated for food and has become part of this country’s
heritage for Thanksgiving dinner. There is evidence that Native Americans have
been hunting turkeys as early as 1000 A.D. Each year, over 46 million turkeys
are eaten each year on Thanksgiving – but how much do you really know about the
turkey?
Instead of our holiday emblem, the wild turkey nearly found
a drastically different role in American culture. Ben Franklin proposed it to
be the official bird of the United States, and though some say he did it in
jest, he praised the turkey as “a true original native of America…a bird of
courage…and a much more respectable bird” than the bald eagle!
CWF and partners have created or restored over 225 acres of Golden-winged warbler habitat in New Jersey since 2012
by Kelly Triece, Private Lands Biologist
Take a look at this Golden-winged warbler — a Neotropical Migrant songbird that breeds in New Jersey. This songbird is a species of special conservation concern in the United States and endangered in New Jersey, experiencing population declines due to loss of young forest habitat.
Did you know? In the past 30 years, over 11,000 acres of upland shrub and emergent wetland habitat have been lost to succession in New Jersey. This habitat is important for Golden-winged warblers because it is their primary breeding habitat. Fortunately, their secondary habitat, upland forests, have remained stable in the state.
Therefore, it has been the goal of many wildlife management agencies to continue to create young forest habitat, while protecting upland forests as well.
Conserve Wildlife Foundation and our partners (Natural Resources Conservation Service, New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife and New Jersey Audubon Society), have worked with private landowners to create or restore over 225 acres of Golden-winged warbler habitat since 2012 in New Jersey.
Our managed forests have a statistically significant higher diversity of birds than unmanaged sites!
Young forest habitat, also known as scrub-shrub habitat, is new or regenerating forest that is less than 20 years old. Young forest habitat is important for many birds, especially the Golden-winged warbler. The open canopy of a young forest also helps provide food such as berries and insects to newly fledged birds, wild turkey, ruffed grouse, reptiles, black bears, bobcats, and butterflies.
The breeding range of the Golden-winged warbler extends along the Appalachians from the northern portion of Georgia in the south to Vermont in the north. The winter range for this species is southern Mexico and Central and South America.
Follow us in February 2016 when biologist Kelly Triece travels to Honduras to see the Golden-winged Warbler in its winter habitat!