HABITAT USE AND REPRODUCTIVE ECOLOGY OF THE OCELLATED TURKEY IN TIKAL NATIONAL PARK, GUATEMALA
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-Despite its size, color, importance as a game species, and restricted geographic range (Yucatin Peninsula, northern Belize, and northern Guatemala), little is known about the ecology of the Ocellated Turkey (Meleagris ocellata). Habitat use, breeding behavior, and survival based on radiotelemetry of this species were studied in Tikal National Park, Guatemala 1988-1989 and 1993-1994. Ocellated Turkeys use tall forest cover to care for their poults and forest clearings and other vegetation types during courtship and nesting. Radiocollared females traveled up to 8 km (average of 2.4 km) from the point of capture in search of nesting sites. Nesting success of eight hens was 62% and poult survival rate was 15%. The largest home range recorded for a female with poults was 12.5 km2. The Ocellated Turkey (Meleagris ocellata), one of the most spectacular birds in the Guatemalan avifauna, is an important game species that is commonly sought by subsistence hunters. The species occupies a relict geographic range that includes the Yucauin Peninsula, southern Tabasco and northeastern Chiapas in Mexico, northern Belize, and the lowlands of northern El Pet6n in Guatemala (Ogilvie-Grant 1893, Griscom 1932, Ridgway and Friedman 1946, Friedman et al. 1950, Leopold 1965, Lint 1977-1978, Steadman et al. 1979). This restricted range makes the species highly vulnerable to range reduction and habitat fragmentation. Since 1977, several authors have reported that populations have decreased and the species is now considered scarce in some areas, probably as a result of habitat loss, overharvest, and disease spread by domestic fowl (Lint 1977-1978, Steadman et al. 1979, Jennings 1987). Most accounts of this species are general descriptions of occurrence and behavior. The only systematic field study on Ocellated Turkeys was perforrned by Steadman and coworkers (1979) during a three-week period in Tikal National Park. Biologists' lack of concern may be explained in part by the fact that the species was traditionally considered to benefit from secondary growth and forest clearings (Leopold 1965). Information on habitat requirements of the Ocellated Turkey suggests that it uses savannas, marshlands, arid brush zones, ecotones between primary and secondary vegetation, milpas (small corn patches), forests with clearings, and other habitats. These vague descriptions suggest that the species requires a mix of forest and clearings to survive. However, it is unclear what forest and clearing types the turkeys use, in what proportion, during what times of the year, and for what activities. Without such information, it is not possible to predict the impact of extensive forest clearing on the species' population dynamics. We studied habitat use and reproductive ecology of the Ocellated Turkey in response to the need for systematic, scientific information on a species that appears to be declining. The study consisted of two phases. The first phase was focused on habitat use and breeding behavior. The second phase was focused on habitat use by females and on population dynamics of females and poults. STUDY AREA AND METHODS Study area.-We studied turkeys in Tikal National Park (17? 33' N, 89? 35' W) in the northern part of the state of El Peten, Guatemala (Fig. 1). The Maya city of Tikal was one of the most prominent developments of the Mayan lowlands during the Classic Period (800 A.D.). Because of its archaelogical and ecological importance, Tikal was decreed a national park in 1955, with an area of 576 km2 (Acuerdo Presidencial 1955). In 1990 Tikal National Park was absorbed as one of the fully protected nuclear zones in the Maya Bio' Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, NY, 10460. 2 West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, 2006 Robert C. Byrd Drive, Beckley, WV 258018320. 1 Present address: Plasticolor Airpak Courier, GPL 10, 1325 N.W., 93 Court, Unit B102, Miami, FL 33172. 4 Corresponding author.
[1] R. L.. The Birds of North and Middle America , 1902, Nature.