Animals must cope with a range of climatic conditions across seasons, and they can accomplish this by selecting habitats that are favourable for thermoregulation. Sheltering from environmental conditions can be particularly important for reducing energetic costs when animals are inactive, but the influence of microclimate on fine-scale selection of sleeping sites is often unclear. We compared microclimate at eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) roost trees and nearby non-roost trees during summer and winter in southern Ontario, Canada, near the northern part of the turkeys’ range. During both winter and summer, overnight air temperature and wind speeds at turkey roost trees were similar to those at nearby non-roost trees. In summer, however, there was slightly less accumulated precipitation at roost trees compared to non-roost trees. Fine-scale selection of roost trees was better predicted by tree characteristics, with a preference for larger trees in both seasons, and for deciduous trees in summer. Our findings suggest that although roost trees may occasionally provide thermoregulatory benefits related to slight differences in microclimate, turkeys’ choice of specific roost trees within a woodland is more likely influenced by proximate signals related to tree characteristics. Our study highlights the importance of forests with large trees as roosting habitat for wild turkeys, particularly in agricultural landscapes within the northern part of their range.