Wild Turkeys By Travis De Lozier Wild Turkey

Wild Turkey’s By: Travis De. Lozier

Wild Turkey Trivia n n n n Turkey’s can run up to speeds of 20 mph? A young turkey is called a turkling? Turkeys have heart attacks? The male turkey’s head turns the colors of Germany’s Flag? A wild turkey was clocked flying at 55 miles per hour? Turkeys can drown if they look up when it is raining? Turkey feathers were used by Native Americans to stabilize arrows? n n n n T F T (The United States Air Force was doing test runs and breaking the sound barrier. Nearby turkeys dropped dead with heart attacks. ) F T

Domestic Turkey Trivia n n n Turkey breeding has caused turkey breasts to grow so large that the turkeys fall over? For their first meal on the moon, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin ate roast turkey in foil packets? Turkeys will have 1, 500 feathers at maturity? April is National Turkey Lover’s Month? Turkeys can see in color? n n n T T F (4, 000 to 5, 000) F (June) T

Turkey Terms n n Caruncle - brightly colored growths on the throat region. Turns bright red when the turkey is upset or during courtship. Gizzard - a part of a bird's stomach that contains tiny stones. It helps them grind up food for digestion. Hen - a female turkey. Poult - a baby turkey. A chick.

Turkey Terms n n Snood - the flap of skin that hangs over the turkey's beak. Turns bright red when the turkey is upset or during courtship. Tom - a male turkey. Also known as a gobbler. Wattle - the flap of skin under the turkey's chin. Turns bright red when the turkey is upset or during courtship. Scientific genus and species: Meleagris gallopavo

What Does a Wild Turkey Look Like?

SIZE n n The wild turkey is the largest of North America's game birds. Adult males, known as toms, or gobblers, normally weigh between 16 and 24 pounds. Females, known as hens, are smaller than males and usually weigh between 8 and ten pounds. The largest wild turkey on record weighed 37 pounds.

Feathers n n n Males: Iridescent red, green, copper, bronze and gold feathers. Toms use these bright colors to great advantage when attracting females during breeding season. Females: Drab, usually brown or gray feathers. They make great camouflage and hide hens when they sit on their nests. Color Phases: A few wild turkeys grow unusually colored feathers. These are known as color phases. There are four color phases, a smokey gray color phase, a melanistic color phase (all black), an erythritic color phase (reddish coloration) and an albino color phase (very rare).

Head n n n Males: Males have brightly colored, nearly featherless heads. During breeding season the color of their heads alternates between red, white and blue, often changing in a few seconds. Hens: A hen's head is gray-blue and has some small feathers for camouflage. Caruncles and Snoods: Both males and females have fleshy growths on their heads known as caruncles. They also both have snoods, fleshy protrubances which hang over their bills and can be extended or contracted at will. The snood of an adult male is usually much larger than that of a female. No one knows for sure what these growths are for, but both probably developed as ways to attract mates.

Beard n n A male turkey grows a cluster of long, hairlike feathers from the center of its chest. This cluster is known as the turkey's beard. On adult males, these beards average about 9 inches long. 10 to 20 percent of hens also grow beards. The longest beard on record is more than 18 inches long.

Legs n n Wild turkey legs are reddish orange. They have four toes on each foot. Male wild turkeys grow large spurs on the backs of their lower legs. These spurs are pointed, bony spikes and are used for defense and to establish dominance. Spurs can grow up to 2 inches in length. The longest spurs on record are 2. 25 inches long.

Tail n n n Wild turkey tails are usually 12 to 15 inches long and are banded at their tips. The color of the bands in the tail varies by subspecies. Male wild turkeys fan their tails when displaying to attract a mate. You can usually tell the difference between an adult male and a juvenile male (a jake) turkey by looking at a turkey's tail: All tail feathers of adult males are the same length. The feathers forming the center of a jake's tail are usually longer than the rest of the feathers in the tail.

Turkey Biology n n Habitat- open, mixed hardwood and pine forests Forage- succulent grasses and forbes, insects, leftover grains, fruits of the grape, cherry and black gum, seeds including mast crops of acorns, pine nuts and juniper (cedar) berries, and new growth agricultural crops.

Turkey Biology n n n Mating Season: February to April Clutch Size: 10 to 12 eggs over a 2 week period, usually laying 1 a day Incubation period: 28 days Expected lifespan in wild 1 to 2 years Longest known lifespan in wild 13 years (high)

Differences Between Gobblers and Hens

Predators n n n n raccoons opossums striped skunks grey foxes birds woodchucks rodents spotted skunks n n n n bobcats rat snakes bull snakes coyotes mountain lions golden eagles great horned owls humans

The Difference Between Wild & Domestic Turkeys

History n n n Indians harvested turkeys to make robes, arrow fletching and blankets out of their feathers. The also used feathers for ceremonial head dresses and spurs for arrow tips. In the late 1700’s birds were exposed to heavy market hunting (some historical reports mention that hens sold for 6 cents apiece while big gobblers brought a quarter at game markets). In the early 1900 s, only around 30, 000 turkeys remained due to uncontrolled hunting.

History n n During the last 60 years, state and federal wildlife agencies, which are funded largely by hunters' dollars, have spent megabucks on habitatimprovement and turkey trap-and-transplant projects. Today, some 4. 5 million big birds roam 49 states (all except Alaska).

Eastern Wild Turkey n n n The most widely distributed, abundant and hunted. Inhabits roughly the eastern half of the country L. J. P. Vieillot first described and named the eastern subspecies in 1817 using the word silvestris, meaning "forest" turkey.

Florida Wild Turkey n n n Also referred to as the Osceola, is found only on the peninsula of Florida. W. E. D. Scott, who named it for the famous Seminole Chief, Osceola, first described this particular subspecies in 1890. Similar to the eastern wild turkey, but is smaller and darker in color

Rio Grande Wild Turkey n n Native to the central plains states This subspecies was first described by George B. Sennett in 1879 Similar in body size to the Florida Turkey Distinguishing characteristic is the tan tipped tail feathers

Merriam's Wild Turkey n n n Found primarily in the ponderosa pine, western mountain regions of the United States. Named by Dr. E. W. Nelson in 1900 in honor of C. Hart Merriam, the first chief of the U. S. Biological Survey. Distinguished from the eastern, Florida and Rio Grande by the nearly white feathers on the lower back and tail feather margins

Gould's Wild Turkey n n n Found in portions of Arizona and New Mexico Described by J. Gould in 1856 during his travels in Mexico The largest of the 5 subspecies and resembles the Merriam's turkey

The Other Turkey n n There are only two species of turkey in the world; the North American wild turkey, divided into five distinct subspecies, and the ocellated turkey. The ocellated turkey is known by several different names that vary by Central American locale: pavo, pavo ocelado, or its Mayan Indian name, ucutz il chican.

Ocellated Turkey n n Significantly smaller than any of the five subspecies of North American wild turkeys. Coloration is unique

Eastern Subspecies Osceola Subspecies Rio Grande Merriam's Subspecies Gould's Subspecies Ocellated Yellow areas inhabited by hybridized subspecies

References n n n http: //www. nwtf. org/ http: //www. birds. cornell. edu/All. About. Birds /Bird. Guide/Wild_Turkey. html http: //www. enature. com/home/

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