Wild Turkey

The Wild Turkey is the largest gamebird in North America and the wild ancestor of the domestic turkey. Adults are covered in richly iridescent bronze, copper, and green body plumage that can look almost metallic in good light. Males (toms or gobblers) are considerably larger than females (hens) and sport a bare, wattled, blue-and-red head, a beard of coarse, hair-like feathers on the chest, and spurs on the legs.

Once nearly eliminated from much of its range by overhunting and deforestation, the Wild Turkey has made one of the great conservation comebacks in North American wildlife history and is now common and widespread, even in suburban areas.

Key field marks

• Large, dark, iridescent bronze body with a naked, colorful blue-and-red head
• Long, broad, fan-shaped tail, dramatically displayed by strutting males
• Male has a chest beard and leg spurs; females are smaller, duller, and usually lack a beard
• Distinctive white-tipped tail feathers (in the eastern subspecies) versus buffy tips in some western subspecies

Similar species

No other North American bird is confused with an adult Wild Turkey; its huge size and naked head are unmistakable at close range, though a distant silhouette can occasionally suggest a large vulture when perched.

Habitat and Range

Wild Turkeys favor mature deciduous and mixed forests with open understory, especially oak and hickory stands that provide mast (acorns), interspersed with fields and clearings for feeding and displaying.

Range

They are found throughout most of the continental United States, southern Canada, and into Mexico, having been widely reintroduced and now occupying nearly all of their historical range and beyond, including many suburban and even urban areas.

Migration

Wild Turkeys are non-migratory, though flocks may shift their range seasonally in response to food availability and snow depth.

Behavior

Wild Turkeys roost in trees at night and forage on the ground in flocks by day, walking rather than flying for most travel, though they are strong, fast fliers over short distances when flushed.

Voice

The male's loud, resonant "gobble" carries for long distances in spring and is used to attract hens and announce territory; both sexes also give a range of clucks, yelps, and purrs.

Feeding

They feed opportunistically on the ground, scratching through leaf litter for acorns and other mast, seeds, berries, and insects, and will also eat small amphibians or reptiles when encountered.

Nesting and breeding

Males display by strutting, fanning the tail, and gobbling to attract multiple hens (a polygynous mating system) and take no part in nesting. The hen builds a simple ground scrape hidden in vegetation and lays 10-14 eggs, which she incubates alone.