The Wild Turkey, A Vanishing Game Bird

Read more about the wild turkey.

       In the pioneer period of American life, wild turkeys roamed over wide areas from New England to Texas. They were sagacious birds, keenly sensitive to danger and able to run faster than the ordinary horse, and they challenged the attention of adventurous hunters. The well-flavored meat of the turkey was a welcome gift to any table and it is a part of the American tradition that the wild turkey was an important item in the feasts of the first Thanksgiving season.

       As settlers moved westward and invaded the forests as well as the plains the natural home of the wild turkey was disturbed and even destroyed. Within a comparatively short time the handsome game bird had all but disappeared from the native wild life of the country. The variety of wild turkey found in Mexico has been domesticated and is now raised in great flocks.

       The turkey is a woodland bird that needs a wide range of undisturbed forest and adjacent meadow, preferably a wet, swamp-like grassland. In the early morning and late afternoon a flock of turkeys may be seen searching in meadow or forest for the wild fruits and insects they prefer for their food, but during the middle of the day they may rest on the ground in the shadow of the forest or they may wander about. At night they fly into the trees and roost on the higher branches, safe from prowling enemies.

       After the middle of February, when the mating season begins, the proud gobbler makes a fine show of his beautiful plumage. He spreads his tail fanwise and droops his wings to the ground to drag them along as he wheels and circles in and around the other members of the flock. He bobs his head up and down and makes a funny gobbling sound as he struts. That is how he gets the name ''gobbler.'' Sometimes two gobblers will wage a bloody battle even to death and the victor tramples the vanquished under foot.

       In late March or early April the turkey hen selects her nesting site at the foot of a tree or under a fallen log in the forest, or in a well-hidden spot in the meadow. She scratches out a shallow place, lines it with dry leaves and begins to lay her eggs. In about two weeks the nest will contain from eight to twelve cream- white eggs speckled with reddish-brown spots.

       Then she sits on the nest constantly for about four weeks and at the end of that time the baby turkeys hatch from the eggs. The baby birds are covered with a soft down that dries in a short time, then they are ready to follow the mother in search of food.

       The young birds usually return to the nest the first night but after that they settle wherever they happen to be at nightfall.

       The first week of a turkey's life is very hazardous and often he does not survive. Wet feet are very serious and to be drenched by the dew-covered grass or by rain is almost sure to be fatal. Prowling animals in search of food are always a menace to the young turkeys, but if they survive the first summer they are large birds by the autumn season. During the late summer days they wander about, the young ones in the company of the turkey hens and the old gobblers somewhat apart. Occasionally a young one will stop to roll in the dust of the roadway to rid himself of vermin or to rub the scales from his growing feathers.

       Where the turkey got his name is not known. Maybe it is from the repeated sound, "turk, turk, turk" that he sometimes makes. The Native Americans had other names for this game bird but whatever his name, we are all agreed that the turkey is one of the most desirable of game birds. It is hoped to again have him as a part of the native wild life in the regions that are his natural home and where once he was often seen. Thomas

Eastern Wild Turkeys Strutting from

The Natural History Channel.