New York asks for public’s help in tracking numbers of turkeys and pheasants

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The state Department of Environmental Conservation is inviting people to help out in game bird surveys this summer.

The department has been conducting a summer wild turkey survey since 1996. Information gathered helps track the reproductive success of the birds. During August, participants record the sex and age of all flocks of wild turkeys they see in their normal travels.

Surveys can be found on the agency’s website: http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/48732.html .

Farmers have been helping the agency keep track of ring-necked pheasants since 1945 in the lake plains region in western New York. The agency is asking farmers in Livingston, Wyoming, Genesee counties to help survey populations in the newly established “Pheasant habitat focus area” in the Genesee Valley.

Information is online: http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/72543.html .

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.