For The Birds: Turkeys, An American Native

Male wild turkey
Photo by Tyler Moulton on unsplash.com

By Christine Southwick

Turkeys do not stand out in the rain with their mouths open and drown!

Who knows where that unfounded and widely believed myth came from?

When state game managers were trying to restore wild turkey populations during the 1920’s, they found that domesticated turkeys couldn’t survive (maybe those domesticated turkeys starved and were found after heavy rains??). 

Starting in the 1940’s, transplanting wild-caught turkeys have survived so well that Wild Turkeys are no longer endangered in any state. In fact, they are the second most popular meat hunted, after deer.

Turkeys were first domesticated centuries ago in Mexico, taken back to Europe, and then re-introduced, to the American colonies (they had been over-hunted for food) by English colonists. Now they are actively hunted in every state except Alaska.

Female wild turkeys
Photo by Dani Adkins on unsplash.com

Wild Turkeys get around mostly by walking, though they can also run and fly. When females are spooked, they tend to fly, while male usually run.

Wild Turkey are intelligent and they mainly forage on nuts and berries and some insects. Each sex has an independent pecking order, with an established female hierarchy and a constantly changing male hierarchy. 

Turkeys roost high up in a tree each night with the ruling male selecting the site and calling the ladies of his harem to join him.

Wild Turkeys are hunted by lots of animals including coyotes, bobcats, raccoons, mountain lions, Great Horned Owls, and people. Their ground nests are often hunted by many additional predators but Wild Turkeys still manage to have a growing population.

In the spring, the male, who has blue flesh and red flesh on his head, attracts females by gobbling, puffing his feathers, spreading his tail, swelling his face wattles, and drooping his wings. 

Using this display, one male usually attracts several females. The female builds a shallow nest at the base of a tree or other dense vegetation, lining it with a small amount of grass or leaves for her 10-15 eggs. The young leave the nest shortly after hatching and feed themselves, although the female still tends them and broods them at night.

There are six subspecies of Wild Turkeys in North America, and three subspecies of Wild Turkey have been introduced in different areas of Washington. All three use slightly different habitats, but all depend on a combination of trees and grasslands for survival.

Who knew?