Donate turkey feathers for research

[amandatalksturkey]

Good morning,

My name is Amanda Beckman and I'm a PhD student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program at Texas A&M. One project I'm working on is collecting Wild Turkey feathers from across the United States to extract DNA. We can use the information contained in DNA to look at genetic differences between turkeys in different regions. We can also use genetics to detect the prevalence of hybridization. I'm looking for individuals that are planning on hunting Wild Turkeys this season that are willing to collect and mail breast feathers to me, and provide some basic information about the bird (date, county/state of hunt, and sex). I will provide the postage needed.

If you, or your family and friends, would be willing to assist in this project please get in contact with me so we can discuss the procedures.


Thanks for your assistance!

-Amanda Beckman

akb13@tamu.edu

[Happy]

How many feathers per bird and do they need to be itemized as to species and location?

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[amandatalksturkey]

I'm asking for 10 breast feathers plucked from different parts of the breast. The information I need is the date and county of harvest, but if you wanted to provide city or GPS coordinates I have that as optional entries on my data sheet.

[notsure]

Hi Amanda. How should the feathers be handled following harvest? Do they need to stored/shipped on ice for example? And I imagine the feathers should be harvested ASAP correct?

[Timmer]

A lot of posts drop down the list as new ones are added.  I'm sure a lot of people would be willing to help.  Maybe provide more details?

PM me if you want to provide specific instructions.  I would be happy to send some your way, assuming me or my son get a bird and they can be adequately preserved within the confines of camping and being hours from home.   

[zsully]

I'd be willing to help out from PA. Specific instructions would be helpful.

[amandatalksturkey]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for all the interest. I will post the instructions here, and I have attached the data cards, and form required by TPWD to transfer the feathers.

1.   Feather plucking doesn't need to occur immediately after kill, but should be done ASAP especially if the bird will be in the truck bed on a warm day
2.   Pluck 6-10 feathers from different areas of the breast
3.   Place feathers into ziplock bag
4.   Fill out data collection card. The bolded information on the card is required. You can write this information on your own paper or print out the data cards emailed to you.
5.   Place data sheet in ziplock bag
6.   Samples should be stored in a dry and cool place; moisture and heat degrade the sample. Avoid placing the sample in the sun, including leaving them inside a vehicle and a warm day.
7.   Contact Amanda (akb13@tamu.edu) to have a postage-paid envelope mailed to you. If you want to pay for postage contact Amanda for the mailing address. You can ship standard postage.

[Sir-diealot]

For those of you that may not want to follow a link.

Featherinfo3 by Sir-diealot, on Flickr

Closeup of above document.

Featherinfo1 by Sir-diealot, on Flickr

Featherinfo2 by Sir-diealot, on Flickr