Talking Turkey

Meet Meleagris gallopavo – the wild turkey.   

click on image to enlarge

Native to North America this is a bird that works for a living.  The bird in the picture is one of five sub-species the eastern wild turkey.  Other species include the Merriam, Osceola, Rio Grande and Gould’s.  The range and slight differences in plumage differentiate the species.

This is a remarkable fowl.  It’s lean of leg because it has to seek its daily bread by constant foraging – dining on nuts, grains, grasses, insects and small reptiles.  Those legs can also propel this bird at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour.  One of the few birds that is capable of vertical take-off   it can also fly at speeds close to 60 miles per hour.

In contrast the mutant domesticated bird you’ll find in the freezer case at your local grocery is bred for meat.  If it’s fortunate enough to be raised in a barnyard it might toddle-about.  Alas, domestic birds are incapable of flight.  No big deal if you’re raised in a pen or a cage.

Wild turkeys are endowed with a superb sense of hearing and Technicolor vision with a 270 degrees wide screen view that is three times keener than that of a human.  Often traveling in flocks with all eyes on high-alert the turkey is cagey and difficult to approach. 

The months of April and May are the mating season for this magnificent bird and the males will strut and display for the ladies.  They’ll gather their harems and compete with other males for mates.  Hens nest on the ground tending to 4 to 14 eggs. The newly-hatched poults are capable of foraging for themselves in only a day.  The males play no role in tending or raising the young.

This is the largest game bird found within Wisconsin’s borders and it is exceedingly popular with both birders and hunters.  Among hunters it is the most pursued bird in the United States.