Contents:
One study, for example, found that less than 0. But when the turkeys show up in the morning, often in the same areas that have been damaged, they get wrongly blamed, said Duane Diefenbach, a wildlife researcher at Pennsylvania State University. Prior to the s, efforts to restock the wild turkeys mostly failed, Hughes said.
That's because researchers tried to use domestically bred wild turkeys, which couldn't survive in nature. By the s, biologists had developed a special type of cannon-propelled net that allowed scientists to catch groups of wild turkeys more effectively, to translocate them to new areas, he added. Since then, the bird has slowly made its way back. While populations continue to grow and spread in some areas, particularly the Midwest, populations in some Northeastern states appear to have leveled off, according to Diefenbach and Sullivan.
In the Southeast, the traditional stronghold of the iconic animal , populations have declined in some areas, Hughes said. The reason isn't yet clear, although it may have to do with changes in forest management that have allowed dense underbrush to grow, as well as increased urban development. Wild turkeys can live in forests and farmland, but don't do well in dense thickets — they need open spaces where males can display to females as a part of their breeding ritual, Hughes said.
In Appalachian and Cumberland plateaus , birds occupy mixed forest of oaks and pines on southern and western slopes, also hickory with diverse understories. Bald cypress and sweet gum Liquidambar styraciflua swamps of s.
Both a totem animal and a major source of protein for many native North Americans, it gave the Europeans a foothold in the New World and has become synonymous with Thanksgiving. Their heads and necks are colored brilliantly with red, blue and white. The Wild Turkey Meleagris gallopavo is surely the most American of birds. The turkey gets an undeservedly bad rap. Bald cypress and sweet gum Liquidambar styraciflua swamps of s. Retrieved 22 November Mark Wilson December 2, at
Florida ; also hardwood of Cliftonia a heath and oak in north-central Florida. Lykes Fisheating Creek area of s. Original habitat here was mainly longleaf pine Pinus palustris with turkey oak Quercus laevis and slash pine Pinus caribaea "flatwoods," now mainly replaced by slash pine plantations. Despite their weight, wild turkeys, unlike their domesticated counterparts , are agile fliers. In ideal habitat of open woodland or wooded grasslands, [19] they may fly beneath the canopy top and find perches.
Wild Turkeys live year-round in open forests with interspersed clearings in 49 states Partners in Flight estimates a global breeding population of million with it possible for hunting seasons to be put in place in all 49 states in their range. Just like humans, turkeys talk to communicate. Their vocabulary consists of 28 distinct calls. Each sound has a general meaning and can be used for different.
They usually fly close to the ground for no more than m a quarter mile. Turkeys have many vocalizations: In early spring, males older than 1-year-old sometimes called gobblers or toms and, occasionally to a lesser extent, males younger than 1-year-old sometimes called jakes gobble to announce their presence to females and competing males.
The gobble can carry for up to a mile. Males also emit a low-pitched "drumming" sound; produced by the movement of air in the air sack in the chest, similar to the booming of a prairie chicken. In addition they produce a sound known as the "spit" which is a sharp expulsion of air from this air sack. Hens "yelp" to let gobblers know their location. Gobblers often yelp in the manner of females, and hens can gobble, though they rarely do so.
Immature males, called jakes, often yelp. Wild turkeys are omnivorous , foraging on the ground or climbing shrubs and small trees to feed. They prefer eating acorns , nuts and other hard mast of various trees, including hazel , chestnut , hickory , and pinyon pine as well as various seeds , berries such as juniper and bearberry , roots and insects. Turkeys also occasionally consume amphibians and small reptiles such as lizards and snakes.
Poults have been observed eating insects, berries, and seeds. Wild turkeys often feed in cow pastures , sometimes visit back yard bird feeders, and favor croplands after harvest to scavenge seeds on the ground.
Turkeys are also known to eat a wide variety of grasses. Turkey populations can reach large numbers in small areas because of their ability to forage for different types of food.
Early morning and late afternoon are the desired times for eating. Males are polygamous , mating with as many hens as they can. Male wild turkeys display for females by puffing out their feathers, spreading out their tails and dragging their wings. This behavior is most commonly referred to as strutting.
Their heads and necks are colored brilliantly with red, blue and white. The color can change with the turkey's mood, with a solid white head and neck being the most excited. Courtship begins during the months of March and April, which is when turkeys are still flocked together in winter areas. In a study, the average dominant male that courted as part of a pair of males fathered six more eggs than males that courted alone. Genetic analysis of pairs of males courting together shows that they are close relatives, with half of their genetic material being identical. The theory behind the team-courtship is that the less dominant male would have a greater chance of passing along shared genetic material than if it were courting alone.
When mating is finished, females search for nest sites. Nests are shallow dirt depressions engulfed with woody vegetation. Hens lay a clutch of 10—14 eggs, usually one per day. The eggs are incubated for at least 28 days. The poults are precocial and nidifugous , leaving the nest in about 12—24 hours. Predators of eggs and nestlings include raccoons Procyon lotor , Virginia opossums Didelphis virginiana , striped skunks Mephitis mephitis , gray foxes Urocyon cinereoargenteus , groundhogs Marmota monax , other rodents and spotted skunks Spilogale ssp.
Predators of both adults and poults include coyotes Canis latrans , [32] gray wolves Canis lupus , [33] bobcats Lynx rufus , [34] cougars Puma concolor , [35] golden eagles Aquila chrysaetos [36] and possibly American black bears Ursus americanus. Occasionally, if cornered, adult turkeys may try to fight off predators and large male toms can be especially aggressive in self-defense. When fighting off predators, turkeys may kick with their legs, using the spurs on their back of the legs as a weapon, bite with their beak and ram with their relatively large bodies and may be able to deter predators up to the size of mid-sized mammals.
They also have been seen to chase off humans as well. However, attacks can usually be deterred and minor injuries can be avoided by giving turkeys a respectful amount of space and keeping outdoor spaces clean and undisturbed. It formerly ranged north to southeastern South Dakota , southern Wisconsin , southern Ontario , and southwestern Maine.
It became extinct about 10, years ago.
The present Californian wild turkey population derives from wild birds re-introduced during the s and 70s from other areas by game officials. At the beginning of the 20th century the range and numbers of wild turkeys had decreased due to hunting and loss of habitat. Game managers estimate that the entire population of wild turkeys in the United States was as low as 30, by the late s.
Game officials made efforts to protect and encourage the breeding of the surviving wild population, and some trapped birds were relocated to new areas, including some in the western states where it was not native. There is evidence that the bird does well when near farmland, which provides grain and also berry-bearing shrubs at its edges. In , the total U.
In recent years, "trap and transfer" projects have reintroduced wild turkeys to several provinces of Canada as well, sometimes from across the border in the United States. Attempts to introduce the wild turkey to Britain as a game bird in the 18th century were not successful. They were hunted with dogs and then shot out of trees where they took refuge. Several other populations, introduced or escaped, have survived for periods elsewhere in Britain and Ireland , but seem to have died out, perhaps from a combination of lack of winter feed and poaching.
There are subtle differences in the coloration, habitat, and behavior of the different subspecies of wild turkeys. The six subspecies are:. Around , a population crossed into western New York. In , some of those birds were trapped and released in other parts of the state. Today, there are estimated to be ten times as many Wild Turkeys in New York as there once were in the entire country. Paradoxically, the same changes that brought the Wild Turkey back are also contributing to a recent decline in its numbers.
Turkeys spend most of the year in hardwood forests, where they feed on acorns, seeds, fruits, roots, grasses, and invertebrates. However, since the turkey nest is little more than a hole scratched in the ground and the poults have no defenses against predators, hens prefer to lay their eggs and raise their young in areas with dense ground cover; adults often use the same areas to hide from predators, including hunters.
As the forests of the Northeast mature, they contain ever fewer hiding places. The recent cold, rainy springs have also been hard on turkeys. Poults sometimes succumb to the weather; additionally, when they are wet, they emit an odor that makes it easier for predators to find them.