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Photo credit: US Fish and Wildlife Service

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The Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is a large gamebird, one of the two species of turkey. Adults have a small featherless bluish head, a red throat, long reddish-orange legs and a dark body. The head has fleshy growths called caruncles on them, and there is a flap of flesh on the bill that can contract or expand. Males have red wattles on the throat and neck. Each foot has four toes on it, and the males have spurs on the backs of their lower legs.

Turkeys have a long dark fan-shaped tail, and their wings are a glossy bronze. Males feathers are also iridescent red, green, copper, bronze and gold. Females feathers are a duller brown and gray color. The primary wing feathers have white bars. Turkeys have between 5,000-6,000 feathers. All adults have tail feathers that are the same length, whereas the juveniles do not. The males typically have a "beard" made of modified feathers sticking out from the middle of their breast. The beard averages 9 inches long. In some populations, 10-20% of the female turkeys may also have a beard, but it is usually shorter and thinner than the males.

Males are significantly larger than females at 117 cm in length and 16-24 pounds compared to 94 cm in length and 8-10 pounds. As with many other species of the Galliformes, they exhibit strong sexual dimorphism. They are relatively weak fliers and will escape on foot if possible. They are capable of achieving speeds of 50 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour) in flight but do not fly much higher than tree level. Only the males "gobble"; the females yelp. The males also emit a very low-pitched drumming sound. The gobble can be heard up to a mile away.

Open areas like fields are preferred for feeding, mating, and habitat. The breeding habitat is wooded areas, usually with clearings, across most of the United States and parts of southern Canada, where they are permanent residents. The forested areas keep them hidden from predators. They nest on the ground at the bottom of a tree, shrub or in tall grass. At night, these birds roost in trees. In the United States they will even occasionally wander into backyards seeking out birdseed.

Wild Turkeys are omnivorous, foraging on the ground or climb shrubs and small trees to feed. They prefer eating hard mast such as acorns and nuts of various trees, including hazel, chestnut, and hickory, various seeds, berries, roots and insects. They also eat small vertebrates like snakes, frogs or salamanders. Poults eat insects, berries, and seeds. The turkey's can obtain large populations in small areas because of their ability to forgage for different types of food. Early morning and late afternoon are the desired times for eating.

Males are polygamous, so they form territories that may have as many as 5 hens within. Male wild turkeys display for females by puffing out their feathers, spreading out their tails, inflating the wattles on their neck and drooping wings. They also use their gobble noises and make scrapes on the ground for territorial purposes. Courtship begins during the months of February and April, which is when turkeys are still flocked together in winter areas.

When mating is finished, females search for nest sites. Nests are shallow dirt depressions engulfed with woody vegetation. Hens lay a clutch of 10-12 eggs, usually one per day. The eggs are incubated for at least 28 days. The poults leave the nest in about 12-24 hours so they are precocial and nidifugous.

This bird was Benjamin Franklin's preference as the national bird for the United States. It has been adopted as the official game bird of South Carolina, Alabama, Oklahoma and Massachusetts.

Turkey is a popular main dish for the Thanksgiving holiday, which is held in November in the United States and October in Canada. The Aztecs domesticated the southern Mexican sub-species, M. g. mexicana

There are subtle difference in the coloration of the different sub-species of Wild Turkeys. The five sub-species are:

1. Eastern (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris)
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.

2. Osceola or Florida (M. g. osceola)
Found only 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. It has no whitish triangular patches, and they show more iridescent green and red colors. Jakes gobble during warm peiods in January, and hatching occurs in the month of May.

3. Rio Grande (M. g. intermedia)
Ranges through Texas to Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado, as well as parts of a few northeastern states. They number from 1,022,700 to 1,025,700 birds. This turkey is native to the central plain states. They were first described in 1879, and have disproportionately long legs. They are pale and copper colored. Habitats are brush areas next to strems, rivers or mesquite pine and scrub oak forests. Only turkey to be found up to 6,000 feet in elevation and are gregarious. They have been known to travel 10 miles from roost areas to nesting areas.

4. Merriam's (M. g. merriami)
Ranges through the Rocky Mountains and the neighboring prairies of Wyoming, Montana and South Dakota. They number from 334,460 to 344,460 birds. Live in ponderosa pine and mountain regions. Named in 1900 in honor of C. Hart Merriam, the first chief of the US Biological Survey. Are nearly white on tail feathers and lower back. They have purple and bronze reflections.

5. Gould's (M. g. mexicana)
Native to central Mexico and the southern-most parts of Arizona and New Mexico. They number from 650 to 800 birds. Heavily protected and regulated. First described in 1856. They exist in small numbers but are abundant in Northwestern portions of Mexico. Gould's are the largest of the five sub-species. They have longer legs, larger feet, and larger center tail feathers. They have copper and greenish-gold reflections.

The range and numbers of the Wild Turkey had decreased at the beginning of the 20th century due to hunting and loss of habitat. Game managers estimate that the entire populations of Wild Turkeys in the U.S.A was as low as 30,000 in the early 1900's. Game officials made efforts to protect and encourage the breeding of the surviving wild population. As the Wild Turkey's numbers rebounded in the 1980s and 1990s, hunting was legalized in 49 US states, excluding Alaska. Current estimates place the entire Wild Turkey population at 7 million individuals. In recent years, trap and transfer projects have reintroduced Wild Turkeys to several provinces of Canada as well.

See also

* Domesticated turkey
* Ocellated Turkey

External links

*Happy Meleagris Gallopavo Day – Origin of the name "turkey"
*All About Wild Turkeys - Map of the locations of the five different sub-species of Wild Turkey
*Sounds Made by Wild Turkeys - Wild Turkey calls