The North American Wild Turkey can be found in every state of the U.S., as
well as in southern-most sections of most of the Canadian Provinces. This
interesting North American Native was abundant, particularly in the state
of New York in the 1600’s when settlers were arriving in the Eastern parts
of Canada and New York, settling and attempting to tame the wilderness of
an unsettled land .
With it’s colorful plumage of feathers, the Wild Turkey is seen on many
Thanksgiving decorations and emblems, depicting this season of Fall and
the harvest. Our domesticated meat birds are derivatives of these smaller
wild birds, which are being raised domestically today as an “exotic”
breed, for meat and for interest in the species.
Although these wild birds were prolific and abundant in the early pioneer
days of North America, the intensive clearing and settling of woodlands
during the 1800’s resulted in a decline and eradication of these beautiful
birds in the United States altogether, and the last sighting of a Wild
Turkey in that century, was in 1844 in the southwestern portion of New
York State. And for over one hundred years after that time, these birds
were elusive and their numbers considered to be very low in all of the
Eastern seaboard states where they had once been in such abundance.
By 1957, US conservationists began relocating breeding stock of Wild
Turkeys into most states capable of sustaining and proliferating a Wild
Turkey populous. The result of this program was an extremely successful
story in the field of wildlife conservation. Wild turkey populations
increased dramatically, and in the state of New York alone, turkey
populations have arisen from only a mere 2000 in 1959, to over 65,000 in
1990.There were an estimated 5 million Wild Turkeys in the whole of North
America at that time as well.
Although these interesting fowl are smaller than our commercially raised
Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys in North America, their meat is
similar, and those raised in a domestic environment and eat the same food
as a commercially raised bird, will undoubtedly taste identical. Hunting
of these birds is restricted to conservation limits, based on area,
although domestic raising of these birds has now become popular among
poultry fanciers.
Males are often known as toms, or gobblers, and have several gender
distinguishing features that include a rust ,green and coppery color
feathers, changing almost iridescently in the bright sunshine. The female
in contrast is dull and generally brown and camouflaged with earth tones
as most female birds are. Gobblers have long black-tipped breast feathers
and commonly have beards that extend past their breast feathers that can
reach 16 inches in length. Adult males weigh in at around 25-30 pounds and
females being much smaller at only 12-15 pounds fully grown.
An interesting fact is that Wild Turkeys CAN fly at speeds up to 55 miles
per hour! Unless of course, they are pinioned as young hatchlings when
being raised as domestic birds. And they can also run at least 12 miles
per hour when being pursued.
In the wild, these birds rely on a diet that includes nuts, berries,
grapes, grasses, ferns, and also insects. Studies in the wild have found
that these turkeys consume over 600 different species of plan and animals
(insects) at any given time. And although these native North American
birds are not considered “exotic” in the wild, they are an exotic but
popular choice for something interesting and a little different in the
coop.
They have an interesting vocalization that has a sound differing from that
of domestic turkeys, and many poultry raisers have used them as coop
“watch dogs”, as their call sounding somewhere between a yodel and a
screech, will sound an alarm call often if there is “trouble” in the
henhouse. Their beautiful plumage has awarded many a very lucky turkey to
be a farmyard pet, and many domestic breeders of this Wild variety of
Turkey, breed them simply for the beauty of their feathers, and the for
the look of what a ‘real” turkey is supposed to present as.
As in any breed of animals, there are societies and organizations
dedicated to the interest and educational pursuit of bettering and
popularizing the species, as exists for this particular bird.
Younglings and breeding stock is available at exotic auctions, private
sales and breeding farms for those interesting in this species of turkey
and wish to raise them.
So, when you are enjoying your holiday turkeys this year, remember old
“Gobbler Tom”, who began the tradition of turkeys on our tables at
harvest, and at Christmas, when the European settlers first came to this
continent hundreds of years ago, finding in abundance these tasty and
magnificent Wild Turkeys.
*Suggested Reading Sources:
*THE WILD TURKEY:BIOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, by Stackpole Books – James G.
Dickson, editor/author
*THE WILD TURKEY AND ITS MANAGEMENT, by the Wildlife Society of Washington
DC, - O.H. Hewitt, editor/author
