Meleagris gallopavo
Steve Bentsen
Wild Turkeys were here
long before Europeans colonized America. They also should
not be confused with their cousins, domestic turkeys (the
ones you eat for Thanksgiving). Wild Turkeys are thinner
than domestic turkeys, and their tails are tipped with
brown, not white. Male Wild Turkeys grow to
about four feet long. including the tail. Females grow to
about three feet. Males and females can be
told apart by the breast feathers. Males' breast feathers
have black tips, females are brown. WPA
P. Meyer
Wild Turkeys live in
open woodlands and forests
with lots of clearings and meadows.
They travel during the day looking for food. Wild Turkeys eat a
great variety of foods, including: insects, spiders, snails,
slugs, salamanders, small lizards, small frogs, millipedes,
grasshoppers, very small snakes, worms, grasses, vines,
flowers, acorns,
buds, seeds, fruits, clovers, dogwood, blueberries,
cherries, hickory nuts, beechnuts, and other
vegetation. Wild Turkeys travel in
small flocks.
For most of the year, they are single-sex flocks. Females
are with females, males with males. Young turkeys follow
their mothers. Wild Turkeys have good
eyesight and hearing, and they are very fast
runners. Copyright, Hoss
Firooznia The
breeding
season is in March and April. A male turkey will try to find
a female flock to make his harem. To attract females,
the male will gobble and strut, fanning out his tail. He
will mate with several females in the flock. Wild Turkey nests are
made in the ground. A shallow depression is lined with
leaves and covered up with vines
and other plants. Ten to fifteen eggs are laid. Eggs are
light brown, with black and dark brown spots. The female
will sit on the eggs for a month are more. This makes her
very vulnerable to predators. Some predators that
raid turkey nests include Raccoons, Red Foxes, Striped
Skunks, crows, snakes, Virginia Opossums, chipmunks, and
squirrels. Young turkeys have
many predators as well. Raccoons, foxes, snakes, owls,
hawks, and other large birds will kill them. Flocks of turkeys have
a pecking order. Usually the oldest birds and the biggest
birds rule over the younger and smaller
birds. Wild Turkeys do most
of their traveling and eating in the daylight. At night they
roost
in trees, especially oaks and pines. Sometimes they roost
over water for extra protection from predators. If they need
to escape, Wild Turkeys are surprisingly fast fliers for
their size. Male turkeys are
called gobblers, and females are hens. Young turkeys are
poults. Wild Turkeys do not
hibernate
or fly South. In the Winter, they will continue to roam in
search of food. Their diet
changes with the seasons, depending on what foods are
available. Wild Turkeys make a
lot of different noises. Copyright, Gregory
Gough
