The birds would be outfitted with radio transmitters, and students would monitor their survival. It would be the first large scale study of northern wild turkey survival in the northern United States, Faber said. The National Wild Turkey Federation has taken a strong interest in the research because hunters would like to see more birds relocated farther north in Minnesota. Tom Glines, regional representative for the federation, has said the group would like to see birds relocated as far north as U.S. 2, which cuts east-west across the state from East Grand Forks to Duluth. Last summer DNR officials designed a draft plan to place eight releases from Milaca northwest to Kittson County over the next five years.
Turkeys can withstand cold weather, that much is known.
In a recent study, DNR biologist Kurt Haroldson found that wild turkeys can withstand temperatures to minus-40 Fahrenheit, even though the birds have bare heads and bare legs. However, wild turkeys, like all wild animals, need lots of food to sustain them through cold winter periods. For the most part, wild turkeys, which are omnivorous, feed on ground foods, such as acorns and insects. When snow gets too deep, the birds have difficulty scratching for food. Without calories and protein, they die.