(WXYZ) — As we head into summer, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is asking residents to track turkeys across the state.
The state's annual wild turkey brood survey helps wildlife biologists understand how well turkeys are reproducing across the state.
Residents can report sightings of wild turkeys and turkey broods from July 1 through Aug. 31. A family unit consists of at least one adult hen and her young.
"Summer is one of the best times of year to see wild turkey families," Adam Bump, the DNR's upland game bird specialist, said in a statement. "Every brood observation helps us better understand how many young turkeys are surviving and where reproduction is occurring across Michigan."
This is the fourth year of the turkey brood survey, and it's part of a larger multi-state effort from the National Wild Turkey Federation.
Since launching, residents in Michigan have submitted more than 17,000 observations, documenting over 36,200 hens, 95,300 poults and 15,500 male turkeys.
Once locally extinct in the state, turkeys have rebounded and are now found in every Michigan county.
"Turkey populations are influenced by many factors, including weather, habitat conditions and poult survival," Bump said. "By collecting observations year after year, we're building a long-term dataset that helps us understand trends before they become problems."
The survey focuses on turkey broods because it provides insight on reproductive success, and biologists can estimate brood size and other factors to see how young turkeys are surviving through the summer months.
"Broods tell us a lot about what happened during nesting season and the weeks immediately after hatching," Caitlin Ott-Conn, a laboratory scientist with the DNR Wildlife Division who oversees survey data collection and analysis, said in a statement.. "When thousands of people share observations from across the state, we gain a much clearer picture of turkey reproduction than we could through traditional surveys alone."
Anyone can contribute to the survey by reporting wild turkey sightings using the online form here.
People will be asked the date, location, number of hens, number of poults and number of males found.
