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Male turkeys in the wild
weigh between 11 and 16 pounds and measure up to 4 feet in length.
Female wild turkeys weigh between 6 and 10 pounds. |
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| Male Wild Turkeys have a dark green
and bronze iridescent body. Their flight feathers are barred
with white and they have a blackish breast tuft. Adult males
have a naked, heavily carunculated (bumpy) head that is
normally bright red in color. The head turns to white overlaid
with bright blue when the birds are excited. The females
and immature males are duller in coloration than the male
and often lack a breast tuft. |
Female on Fence |
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Turkeys eat almost anything
they can swallow. You will, however, see them eat fruit, seeds,
nuts, and insects most frequently. About 90% of a Wild Turkey's
diet is plant matter. Wild Turkeys will also eat an occasional
frog or lizard. |
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Male turkeys are called toms;
females are called hens; and baby turkeys are known as poults. |
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Male Wild Turkeys have a
long red fleshy ornament (called a snood) that grows from the
forehead over the bill. T%hey also have a wattle - a long piece
of loose skin that begins beneath the jaw and extends down the
neck. |
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Unlike domestic turkeys (those
that end up on the Thanksgiving table), that cannot run or fly,
when fleeing danger, Wild Turkeys exhibit explosive flight, briefly
achieving speeds of up to 80 m.p.h. They can fly about a mile
in a single flight at an average of 32 to 55 m.p.h. Wild Turkeys
are also fast runners and when frightened, they often will run
for cover. |
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In a courtship display, the
male spreads his tail, droops his wings and shakes the quills
audibly, retracts his head, struts about, and utters rapid gobbling
sounds. He assembles a harem, and each hen, over a two week period,
lays 8 to 15 brownish spotted eggs in a nest. |
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Nests and brooding sights
for the Wild Turkey consist of woodland margins of grasslands,
sparse brushlands, recent regeneration areas, and open fields.
Hens occasionally use open woodlands with low ground cover for
nesting. |
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The female incubates the
eggs for about 28 days. Each brood contains approximately equal
numbers of male and female poults. Turkeys are self-reliant after
they reach 4 to 5 weeks of age. |
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Males are polygamous, with
many mates, but females are not. There is a strong hierarchical
pecking order. |
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Wild Turkeys are native only
to North America and do not migrate. Their primary habitat is
hardwood forest. |
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| At night, small flocks
of Wild Turkeys roost in trees. In the mountains, conifers
sheltered by terrain provide wintering and roosting cover.
In the Coastal Plain habitats, dense pine stands, large
hardwoods, gum, and cypress meet these needs. |
Turkey In Tree |
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In the 1930's, fewer than
30,000 Wild Turkeys remained in North America. Their numbers desecrated
by hunting. Today, through careful management, there are about
4.2 million Wild Turkeys roaming North America! |
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