Midland Painted Turtle

(Chrysemys picta marginata)

Status: Special Concern (COSEWIC 2018), Not Listed (ESA)

Table of Contents:

Species Identification
Diet
Habitat and Range
Biology and Behaviour
Similar Species
Threats/Reasons for Being Endangered
Conservation and Recovery Strategies
How You Can Help

Species Identification:

The Midland Painted Turtle’s carapace (top shell) is smooth, relatively flat, and ranges in colour from olive to black. The base colour of their skin also olive to black. The outer edge of the carapace has bright red lines on the top and bottom, giving them a painted look. Their head and throat are striped with bright yellow that transitions to red on the neck and forelimbs. The tail is also typically marked with yellow or red stripes. Adults vary in size but females are larger than males, and they are generally just a bit larger than a grapefruit. Males have considerably longer claws on their front limbs than the claws of their hind limbs, whereas females are all the same length. Males also have thicker tails than females. Painted Turtles are the only species with red markings on them, so this can be used as a key identification feature.

Diet:

Midland Painted Turtles are omnivores that consume a wide variety of vertebrates, invertebrates, aquatic plants, and algae. They have a higher preference for vegetation as they get older. Common food species include snails, tadpoles, small fish, insects, crayfish, worms, and duckweed. Midland Painted Turtles will typically feed while swimming, but they will also feed off the bottom of shallow lakes, ponds, wetlands, and rivers. Like Snapping Turtles, Midland Painted Turtles cannot consume food on land since they do not have the ability to move their tongues.

Midland Painted Turtle Range in orange. Map taken from Government of Canada: https://www.registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca/virtual_sara/files/cosewic/srMidlandPaintedTurtleEasternPaintedTurtle2018e.pdf

Habitat and Range:

There are two species of Painted Turtle- the Southern Painted Turtle (which is found in the United States) and the Painted Turtle. The Painted Turtle has three subspecies, 2 of which occur in Ontario. These are the Western and Midland Painted Turtles. The Western Painted Turtle is a Southern Ontario species, while the Midland Painted Turtle can be found in Eastern Ontario, including The Land Between. The other subspecies is the Eastern Painted Turtle, which is only found in Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

Midland Painted Turtles prefer slow moving, relatively shallow and well-vegetated wetlands and water bodies with abundant basking sites, which are primarily swamps, marshes, ponds, fens and bogs. They will also frequent shallow lakes, rivers, oxbows, and creeks, but deep open water bodies are avoided. Hatchlings and juveniles prefer shallow water, most likely for foraging and avoiding predators. They will transition to deeper water as they grow into adulthood. Midland Painted Turtle abundance is positively associated with shoreline vegetation and organic substrate. They are semi tolerant of human altered landscapes such as human made ponds that are well vegetated, as well as degraded wetlands and areas with moderate to high road densities.

Biology and Behaviour:

The Midland Painted Turtle’s active season begins as ice cover retreats. The Midland Painted Turtle will spend some time basking and feeding to warm up, and then they will make their way to their spring mating habitats. This movement generally happens once turtles are able to raise body temperatures above 15 to 20 degrees Celsius. Spring is primarily the breeding season, where turtles will meet up to mate and then disperse. Females can store more than one male’s sperm, which means they can have clutches that have multiple fathers to help spread genetic material.

In Ontario, nesting season typically spans 20 to 40 days – typically from mid May until early July. Midland Painted Turtles will generally lay 10-12 eggs, and incubation is 65-80 days before they hatch in August or September. Most females lay one clutch per year, but a few will lay 2 clutches where the second one overwinters underground and emerges in the spring. Nesting sites happen in sand, clay, or gravel, which is generally along roadsides. Once it starts to get cool, Midland Painted Turtles will head back to their overwintering sites, which are generally in wetlands and shallow bays of lakes.

Predation is responsible for most nest failure but flooding, desiccation, infertility and low incubation temperatures also contribute to nest loss. Young turtles are predated by American Mink, River Otter, Coyote, Red Fox, Raccoon, Shrews, Great Blue Heron, American Crow, Bald Eagle, Common Raven, American Bullfrog, Northern Watersnake, and large fish species like Catfish, Pike, and Largemouth Bass. Adults are predated by Mink, Otters, Coyotes, Dogs, Racoons, Crows and Ravens. However, road mortality is the number one cause of death for the Midland Painted Turtle.

Similar Species:

There are no other subspecies of Painted Turtles in The Land Between, so if you see red and yellow lines on a turtle then it will be a Midland Painted Turtle
The non-native and invasive turtle species Red-eared Slider- which is native to the midwestern United States- can sometimes be found in Ontario if it was relocated. Please note that Red-eared Sliders are an invasive and damaging species and should be reported and removed if found. Red-eared Sliders also have red striping on their carapace, but they can be distinguished by two red stripes that are located behind each eye that Midland Painted Turtles do not have

Threats/ Reasons for being at Risk:

1. Road mortality: Roads contribute to habitat destruction and fragmentation, and intentional persecution and mortality from being hit by cars. Painted turtles will come into contact with roads for three reasons: basking on the warm gravel and asphalt, road shoulders provide favourable nesting substrate, and incidental use during migration or movement to other areas of their habitat. Road mortalities also happen before turtles are even born. Soil compaction of nests has been known to crush eggs or prevent hatchlings from emerging. Nests along roads are also more susceptible to predation, since predators like raccoons, foxes, and skunks will use urban corridors as hunting and foraging grounds.

2. Invasive species: Many non-native freshwater species from the pet trade (such as Red-eared Sliders, Cooters, and fish) have been introduced within the Canadian range of Midland Painted Turtles. These non-native species are capable of successfully overwintering and reproducing in south and central Ontario. Introduced turtles can compete with native species for basking sites, food and spatial resources, and introduce parasites and pathogens. Introduction of predatory fish is a source of mortality for juvenile turtles since many of these predatory fish species occupy shallow warm water with well vegetated areas. Phragmites are also negatively impacting Midland Painted Turtles since they grow in thick, impassable stands that choke out native species. Invasive plant species also displace Midland Painted Turtles from prime habitat to lower quality habitat and reduce access to shoreline for nesting.

3. Residential and commercial development: Widespread habitat loss and modification has occurred for Painted Turtles across Canada. Wetlands are lost or altered by human development and urbanization. Fragmentation of habitat patches threatens Painted Turtles, especially when roads cut through whole wetlands. The number of turtles with injuries has been found to be correlated with the amount of urban development within 100 m of a wetland. Wetland water quality and macrophyte community index scores have also been strongly correlated with road densities around lakes and wetlands occupied by Midland Painted Turtles.

4. Commercial fisheries by-catch. By-catch in fyke/hoop net fisheries poses a threat to Painted Turtles in Canada- particularly in Southern Ontario and Western Quebec. In Long point Bay, Lake Ontario, and Upper St. Lawrence, Painted Turtles are captured in 1-2% of commercial fishery net checks. Despite mitigation strategies such as floats being put in trap nets to provide air space, up to one third of Midland Painted Turtles die in trap nets. Even low levels of adult mortality imposed by commercial fishing bycatch can have profound negative impacts on long lived species with low recruitment like Painted Turtles.

Conservation and recovery strategies:

Since Midland Painted Turtles are only listed as Special Concern in Canada, and not listed at all in Ontario, not much is being done to protect this species and their habitat. Ideal policies would be to ensure habitat restoration and protection through stewardship, restoration projects and land acquisition. The Government would need to discourage road development near and around wetlands, and development that destroys wetlands. Increased control and regulation of invasive species- particularly phragmites, invasive aquatic plants, pet turtle species, and large predatory sport fish. While Midland Painted Turtles are not being protected at the government level, there are many organizations that have stepped up to help. The Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre in Peterborough will incubate eggs and rehabilitate injured turtles, and here at The Land Between we have staff and volunteers that are out on busy roads during the spring and summer to ensure that all turtle species can safely nest and cross roads. We even have the ability to excavate Midland Painted Turtle nests for incubation and release once they have hatched. Even though the Midland Painted Turtle is marked as a low risk Species at Risk, populations are still declining at a high rate, and protection must occur if this species is to survive.

How can you help?

Decrease your speed and stay alert on roads. If you see any turtles, help them cross the road in the direction they are travelling. Active turtle season is from May to the end of September.
Protect and keep natural wetlands and shorelines on your property.
Tell your local government to protect wetlands- not develop on them.
Report and remove any invasive species sightings- especially the Red-eared Slider.
Participate in a phragmites control project near you! The Land Between has a Phrag Fighter program where you can help locate and remove this species in your neighbourhood.
Support organizations dedicated to helping turtles.
Call us at 705-457-1222 if you see a turtle nesting or in need of help!

Additional Resources:

Ontario Nature Midland Painted Turtle page
COSEWIC 2018 Midland and Eastern Painted Turtle Assessment
The Toronto Zoo: Midland Painted Turtle information page
Georgian Bay Biosphere’s Species at Risk Database

Sources:

Moldowan et al. 2015. Diet and feeding behaviour of Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina) and Midland Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta marginata) in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario

Riley, J.L., G.J. Tattersall, and J.L. Litzgus. 2014. Potential sources of intra-population variation in overwintering strategy of Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) hatchlings. The Journal of Experimental Biology 217:4174-4183

COSEWIC. 2018. COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report on the Midland Painted Turtle Chrysemys picta marginata and the Eastern Painted Turtle Chrysemys picta picta in Canada. Ottawa. Xvi + 107 pp. https://www.registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca/virtual_sara/files/cosewic/srMidlandPaintedTurtleEasternPaintedTurtle2018e.pdf