A description of the wild turkey

Grey tail feathers with blue and gold tips White and black wings Adult Males weigh 11 to 12 pounds Adult females weigh 6 to 7 pounds A unique, high-pitched "gobble" preceded by a hollow drumming sound No beard Wild Turkey Oddities: Feathers Wild Turkey Oddities: Feathers Turkey oddities are the result of genetic variations that cause one or more turkeys in a flock to differ from the rest.

Pale yellowish tan, evenly marked with reddish brown or pinkish spots. Back to top Behavior Wild Turkeys get around mostly by walking, though they can also run and fly—when threatened, females tend to fly while males tend to run.

At sundown turkeys fly into the lower limbs of trees and move upward from limb to limb to a high roost spot. They usually roost in flocks, but sometimes individually. Courting males gobble to attract females and warn competing males.

They display for females by strutting with their tails fanned, wings lowered, while making nonvocal hums and chump sounds.

Males breed with multiple mates and form all-male flocks outside of the breeding season, leaving the chick-rearing to the females, The chicks travel in a family group with their mother, often combining with other family groups to form large flocks of young turkeys accompanied by two or more adult females.

Each sex has an independent pecking order, with a stable female hierarchy and a constantly changing male hierarchy. Nest predators include raccoons, opossums, striped skunks, gray foxes, woodchucks, rat snakes, bull snakes, birds, and rodents.

Back to top Conservation Wild Turkeys are numerous and their populations increased sharply between andaccording to the North American Breeding Survey. Partners in Flight estimates a global breeding population of 7.

Wild Turkey Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Wild Turkeys regained and even expanded their range after drastic declines during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries from hunting and habitat loss. One subspecies disappeared from New England in the mid-nineteenth century, surviving in small numbers in wilderness areas of the Gulf States, the Ozarks, and the Appalachian and Cumberland plateaus.

Another subspecies disappeared from parts of Texas, while yet another declined precipitously in numbers throughout the Southwest. In the early twentieth century people tried unsuccessfully to use farm turkeys for restoring wild populations, but in the late s they began to successfully transplant wild-caught turkeys into suitable habitat.

No other game bird has responded so well to the efforts of game managers. The birds are popular among hunters; the U. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates 21 percent of all U.

Their expanding populations have made it possible for hunting seasons to be put in place in all 49 states in their range. Back to top Backyard Tips If you have a large yard near woods, you can attract Wild Turkeys by planting nut-bearing or berry trees.

Some people attract turkeys by scattering birdseed or corn on their lawns; just beware that this can also attract unwanted visitors such as rodents. Find out more about what this bird likes to eat and what feeder is best by using the Project FeederWatch Common Feeder Birds bird list.

Wallace and Stephen W.The Wild Turkey is the largest bird nesting in Tennessee. This large bodied, big footed species only flies short distances, but roosts in trees at night. The historic range of the Wild Turkey extended from southern Canada throughout the United States to central Mexico.

Florida (Osceola) wild turkey

Wild turkey reintroduction programs began in the s, and the birds were relocated to areas where populations had been decimated but woodlands were recovering.

Wild Turkeys are very large, plump birds with long legs, wide, rounded tails, and a small head on a long, slim neck. Relative Size One of our largest and heaviest birds; smaller than a Trumpeter Swan; about twice the size (and four times as heavy) as a Ring-necked Pheasant. The National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) is a national nonprofit conservation and hunting organization that has worked for the conservation of the wild turkey and preservation of the hunting tradition since Nest Description The female scratches a shallow depression in the soil, about 1 inch deep, 8–11 inches wide, and 9–13 inches long.

Wild Turkeys use only the dead leaves or other plant materials already present at the nest site. Wild Turkey Bourbon is super-premium American bourbon, made in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky by Master Distiller Jimmy Russell.

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