With Thanksgiving just around the corner, you might be thinking more about turkeys than usual. And all this turkey talk might have you wondering, “Do turkeys kill ticks?” Well, wonder no more! The answer is a resounding YES! Turkeys are actually tick-eating machines, and they play a vital role in keeping tick populations under control.
How Many Ticks Do Turkeys Eat?
A single, full-grown turkey can devour 200 or more ticks per day, under the right conditions. That’s a lot of ticks! And it gets even better. A female turkey can raise a clutch of 4 to 17 poults every year. So, after one year of reproduction, her turkey family (two generations, including her and her mate) could eat up to 3,800 ticks per day altogether. That’s way more ticks than most other birds consume.
Why Are Turkeys So Good at Tick Control?
Turkeys have several advantages when it comes to tick control:
- Sharp eyesight and acute hearing: These senses help them spot and hear ticks, even when they’re hiding in the grass or on their own bodies.
- Strong beaks and sharp claws: Turkeys can easily pluck ticks off their feathers and skin.
- Preening behavior: Turkeys spend a lot of time preening themselves, which helps remove ticks and other parasites.
Can Turkeys Control the Tick Population?
While turkeys are certainly tick-eating champions, they can’t be counted on to do it all. Tick populations are on the rise in many areas due to climate change, and Lyme disease cases are also increasing. So, it’s important to take additional steps to control ticks around your home and property.
Here are some things you can do:
- Treat your pets for ticks regularly.
- Use tick repellent on yourself and your family.
- Keep your yard mowed and free of tall grass and weeds.
- Create a barrier around your property with tick-repellent plants.
- Consider professional tick control services.
Other Birds That Eat Ticks
Turkeys aren’t the only birds that love to snack on ticks. Other tick-eating birds include:
- Chickens
- Guinea fowl
- Peafowl
- Ducks
- Quails
- Partridges
- Woodpeckers
- Egrets
- Oxpecker (endemic to Africa)
These birds are known to seek out ticks as a favored food source, They could be considered true tick predators—especially the oxpecker!
However, there are many other birds that eat ticks less frequently. Many ground-dwelling birds, including smaller songbirds, will eat a tick if they come across one when foraging. So, they aren’t considered true tick predators, like the turkey.
The Importance of Tick Control
Ticks are more than just a nuisance They can transmit serious diseases to humans and animals, including Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and ehrlichiosis That’s why it’s so important to take steps to control ticks around your home and property.
By working together, we can help reduce the risk of tick-borne diseases and protect ourselves, our families, and our pets.
A Brief History Lesson
It’s critical to keep in mind that wild turkeys are a native species in Maine, and their history predates their reintroduction. As such, they fall squarely within MDIFW’s duty to preserve, protect, and enhance Maine’s wildlife resources.
Prior to settlement, wild turkeys existed in significant numbers, particularly in York and Cumberland Counties. However, as agricultural practices became more intensive and hunting became unrestricted, the habitat of forests was drastically reduced, resulting in the utter extinction of the Maine population by the early 1800s. Ineffective attempts were made in the 1940s to restore wild turkeys to our state using pen-raised specimens. The tactic of capturing mature wild turkeys from other states and releasing them in Maine proved successful for reestablishment only in the late 1970s. It was a challenging recovery, and we are lucky to have the healthy population that exists today.
Lyme disease also has an extensive history here. A team of Yale researchers used genome sequencing to trace the origin and spread of tick-borne diseases. They discovered that the bacteria that causes Lyme disease is not a newcomer to the United States. It has been circulating in North America long before the reintroduction of turkeys. In fact, it has been around for over 60,000 years, well before humans were even in the picture. There was no recent bacterial mutation or reintroduction to account for the current rise in Lyme disease cases.
The main carrier of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses is the black-legged tick, also referred to as deer tick. Records of this species’ presence date back to the 1980s in southern Maine. Their population has since increased, their range has expanded, and Lyme disease is on the rise. The resurgence of wild turkeys does correspond with the spread of ticks, and given the dubious timing of this phenomenon, turkeys appear to be an easy target. But, as every good scientist knows, correlation does not imply causation.
Stated differently, two distinct events that exhibit a similar trend over time do not necessarily indicate that one caused the other. The reason for this is that there are a plethora of other factors at play! At the same time, there were changes in temperature, humidity, human population, wildlife populations, habitat, and much more, making it difficult to determine cause and effect. A good place to begin is to understand the life cycle of the tick.
A parasite is dependent on its host for survival. Deer ticks feed on three separate hosts throughout their life cycle. For the first stage, small mammals like mice are the most common hosts, and for the second stage, mid-sized mammals are the most common hosts. The main host for the last adult stage is the white-tailed deer, which serves as a means of dispersal and a source of nutrients. So where do turkeys fit in?.
Black-legged tick life stages Photo by the U.S. CDC
Numerous scientific investigations have been carried out to explore the relationship between turkeys and ticks and ascertain whether wild turkeys are advantageous hosts for deer ticks at any point in their life cycle. The results were clear. Deer ticks rarely successfully feed on turkeys. Although ticks are occasionally carried by turkeys, their prevalence is low, and the majority are devoured during preening before becoming engorged, thereby preventing spread. So, could turkey preening and foraging actually decrease tick densities? Unfortunately, no. Study results show that turkeys are relatively ineffective predators of ticks. Overall, wild turkeys carry a few ticks and eat a few ticks, and have a net zero impact.
In addition to hosts, ticks also require suitable habitat and favorable environmental conditions such as humidity and temperature. Milder seasons have contributed to the spread of deer ticks in Maine. Warmer weather encourages greater survival rates because it gives ticks more time to locate hosts, more ticks can lay eggs, and more eggs have a better chance of hatching.
Researchers are still examining the relationships between various factors and the abundance of ticks in our state, including host habitat, host density, host health, and changes in tick habitat.
“I think we could help people control deer ticks and prevent disease if we just had a better understanding of all the factors taken together.” ” -Susan Elias, PhD.
Have Turkeys Been Wrongly Accused for the Uptick?
There’s no denying that the subject of turkeys has generated a lot of discussion at many Maine Thanksgiving tables. Some are thankful for this prized gamebird’s comeback, while others are “ticked” off about their reintroduction. The best way to address this dispute is to look to science for the answers.
While turkeys won’t eliminate the tick problem in our state, numerous studies have demonstrated that they are not the cause of it either. Given their overwhelmingly positive social, environmental, and economic effects in Maine, wild turkeys are a fitting symbol of gratitude as the holiday season approaches.
Ask Dr. Mike: Ticks & Wild Turkeys
FAQ
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