WildTurkeys
Turkeys
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Wild Turkeys are large game birds with a rather awkward appearance. However, the wild turkey is a powerful flier, reaching speeds of up to 55 mph over short distances.
Wild turkeys are quite different from their domestic cousins. They are smaller and faster and can fly very well. They live and move in flocks. Although they are considered wild animals, they can be unbelievably fearless. Domestic turkeys have grown in size and have lost the ability to fly. They are more tolerant of humans and are accustomed to handouts from feeders.
There are six species of wild turkeys:
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Eastern Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) - Their range covers the entire eastern half of the United States; extending also into Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritime Provinces in Canada. They number from 5.1 to 5.3 million birds. They were first named forest turkey in 1817, and can grow up to 4 feet tall. The upper tail coverts are tipped with chestnut brown. |
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Osceola or Florida Turkey (M. g. osceola) - These variety is only found on the Florida peninsula. They number from 80,000 to 100,000 birds. This bird is named for the famous Seminole Chief Osceola, and was first described in 1980. It is smaller and darker than the Eastern turkey. The wing feathers are very dark with smaller amounts of the white barring seen on other sub-species. Their overall body feathers are iridescent green-purple color. |
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Gould's WIld Turkey (M. g. mexicana) - They are native from central to northern Mexico and the southern-most parts of Arizona and New Mexico. Heavily protected and regulated. First described in 1856. They exist in small numbers but are abundant in Northwestern portions of Mexico. A small population has been established in southern Arizona. Gould's are the largest of the five sub-species. They have longer legs, larger feet, and longer tail feathers. The main color of the body feathers are copper and greenish-gold. |
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Merriam's Wild Turkeys:(M. g. merriami) - Ranges through the Rocky Mountains and the neighboring prairies of Wyoming, Montana and South Dakota as well as much of the high mesa country of New Mexico. They number from 334,460 to 344,460 birds. They live in ponderosa pine and mountain regions. Named in 1900 in honor of C. Hart Merriam, the first chief of the US Biological Survey. The tail and lower back feathers have white tips. They have purple and bronze reflections. |
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Ocellated Wild Turkey(Agriocharis ocellata) - This species is is not found in North America. |
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Rio Grande WIld Turkey (M. g. intermedia) - Ranges through Texas to Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon, and Central and Western California, as well as parts of a few northeastern states. Rio Grande turkeys were also introduced to Hawaii in the late 1950s. Population estimates for this subspecies range from 1,022,700 to 1,025,700. This sub-species is native to the central plain states. Their body feathers often have a green-coppery sheen to them. The tips of the tail and lowrer back feathers are a buff-very light tan color. |
Habitat:
This turkey's preferred habitat are the mountainous regions, forests and open woodland (scrub oak, and deciduous or mixed deciduous-coniferous areas).
They are also found in agricultural areas in some regions; agricultural areas may provide important food resources in winter.
Mating Ritual:
The male wild turkey has a conspicuously bright coloring of plumage. It is usually iridescent brown. In the way of attracting females, they are very much like peacocks. They have fan-like fancy tails and a cocky strut. They occupy a comfortable position on trees and gobble for hens. Courtship ritual is reminiscent of some exquisite dance.
The wild turkey is one of the largest birds in North America. An adult male can grow up to 4 feet long from his beak to his tail. Wild turkeys live in open fields and woods and nest on the ground. Wild turkeys prefer to eat insects, grasses, nuts, and berries.
Song / Call:
Similar to domestic turkey gobble.
Diet:
Feeds on seeds, nuts, acorns, fruits, grains, buds, and young grass blades. During summer, eats many insects; may also eat some small vertebrates (frogs, toads, snakes, etc.).
Reproduction / Breeding:
Hens incubates average of 10-12 eggs for 27-28 days (in northeastern Colorado, most nests are initiated mid-April to mid-May).
Hatching begins in May in southern range, usually early June in north. Young are tended by female; brood stay together until winter.
Females first breed as yearlings.
An Idaho study compared nest success and initiation rates between resident and introduced hens and found no significant difference.
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