A turkey is a long-legged bird with iridescent bronze feathers. Male turkeys typically sport an elaborate, red fleshy ornament called a snood that hangs from their beak and features an additional dark wattle on their necks.
Turkeys form complex social relationships, including family bonds. Additionally, they can remember up to 30 other turkey faces!
Origin
The odd-looking domestic turkey can trace its roots back to wild birds that flourished in central and eastern Mexico, where it played an integral role among Native American tribes and its meat made its way into Aztec ceremonies dating back to 800 B.C. In southwestern United States, ancestral Pueblans began keeping domesticated turkeys around 200 B.C, possibly adding them into their mole poblano sauce that featured ingredients like squash and pumpkin along with pepper, onion, garlic cloves cinnamon cumin anise sesame seed – making mole poblano famous among chefs worldwide!
European explorers began bringing Mexican wild turkeys back home from Mexico in 1519, quickly making them part of European cuisine. The name turkey likely comes from confusion between this species and guinea fowl seen at markets in Calicut (now modern-day Turkey). Partly due to their similar appearances but possibly also due to guinea fowl being known in English-speaking circles as turkeys (turkey cock).
Habitat
Turkeys require a diverse habitat in which to thrive. They typically prefer a combination of open areas and woodlands that are close to water sources and cover.
Wild turkeys are highly adaptable creatures, capable of adapting to changing habitat conditions quickly. Because of this, their populations remain stable across most parts of the country.
Food plots are an integral component of turkey habitat. Not only can they provide essential grains, legumes and root vegetables for them to feast upon but they can also offer cover against predators that might otherwise threaten them.
As well as food plots, wildflowers and bunch grasses can also be planted to provide turkey-specific habitat. A popular option is Chufa grass – an exotic form of native nutsedge – which thrives almost everywhere corn does and is beloved by turkeys.
Hens and poults start life off by feeding almost exclusively on insects. Therefore, the ideal brood habitat would include open spaces such as hayfields, food plots or early successional woodlands with plenty of cover nearby for easy escape routes.
Feeding
Turkeys are adept opportunistic foragers that feed on an assortment of animal and plant material, from insects and greens to green berries, nuts, grains and fruits. When foraging they use their beaks to grab items off of surfaces before pecking at the ground to deposit food into their “crop,” an expanded chamber in their esophagus that stores it until swallowing time.
Wild turkeys feed on tender shoots from new growth in ag fields and food plots as well as native forbs and brushy areas in spring, shifting their focus later to fruit trees and acorns.
As temperatures become colder, turkeys switch from eating acorns to hard mast, such as beech or oak leaves. They may even feed on bare ground such as banks of spring-fed brooks or highway intersections during this season.
When purchasing turkey meat, strive for humanely raised birds from local farms or heritage breeds that have been fed organic grains and pasture grasses and allowed to roam freely outside. Caged, restricted conditions may expose birds to more disease and may result in deformed bones requiring antibiotics treatment; look for labels indicating whether your bird is cage-free, free range, or roaming freely outside.
Breeding
As spring arrives, gobblers begin calling to attract female turkeys through courtship rituals that include strutting, puffing up and fanning tail feathers. Females choose males based on fancy ornamentation such as long wattles (the distendable “beak”) or wide ruffles around their necks. Studies show females also prefer those with longer snoods which sit directly above the beak and can be seen through its mouth.
Once a male has found his ideal hen, they pair off and begin breeding. Both sexes line up next to one another so their vents, or cloacas, are in close proximity for transfer of sperm; then the male hops on top of her while mating. Once complete, both pairs retreat into safe spots away from predators and the weather to continue raising offspring.
When adding wild turkeys to an existing flock of chickens, keep in mind that these large birds may display aggression. A good way to introduce them gradually into a new environment is to place the turkeys into a small fenced area and allow the chickens to come over and say hello – this will help the turkeys become familiar with them while building pecking orders before reaching puberty (4-6 months). Being proactive before this occurs will prevent both aggression and disease outbreak.
Pardoning
Thought behind all those funny dad jokes is an annual tradition that celebrates our unique, often contentious relationship with animals: every Thanksgiving since President Truman, the National Turkey Federation presents one or two Thanksgiving turkeys (usually two) to the president for presentation at White House by its chairman and representatives of National Turkey Federation – who then bring two birds – one as stand-in if necessary to prevent slaughter!
Presidents grant presidents pardons for Thanksgiving dinner turkeys that have been spared by Presidents over time, sparing them from being eaten at Thanksgiving tables. Recently, these pardoned turkeys have gone on to enjoy high-profile lives such as Disneyland where they serve as honorary grand marshals for Thanksgiving Day parade. Outside Disneyland they may live on children’s farms or be educated at North Carolina State University’s Talley Turkey Education Unit on how modern turkey farming works.
The NTF isn’t a major lobbying group, though it does contribute to some members of Congress and political action committees (PACs). Donors to this election cycle included Jennie-O and Cargill — suppliers of turkeys pardoned by President Donald Trump (see here for full list at OpenSecrets).
Snoods
When a male turkey approaches a female hen, his efforts don’t focus on impressing her with the size and flexibility of his pectorals or bank account; rather, she chooses him based on something much simpler: his long snood.
A tom’s fleshy growth that extends from his forehead over his bill is known as a snood, and can reach five inches during courtship. The bright red color attracts her attention; longer the snood the more desirable the individual becomes.
Just like a mood ring, the snood and surrounding skin of the wattle can tell you whether a tom is excited or calm. Blood flow to his snood causes its color to change from bright red to light blue depending on his level of stress or fear.
A tom turkey in courtship display mode will typically have his snood at its longest point and his head erect, looking directly at you with it raised erect. When his interest wanes in one female bird and moves on to others, his snood can suddenly shorten, which indicates loss of interest from that prospect and hedging against selection by intrasexual selection; research suggests it as an indicator of genetic fitness among turkeys.
Roosting
Wild turkeys will often form groups to move silently towards their nighttime roost sites as darkness falls. Hunters should observe these flocks before it’s too late – usually 200 yards or closer – before making any movements themselves.
Ideal roosting sites for turkeys tend to consist of large, bare-limbed trees with open understory characteristics. Turkeys depend heavily on their vision to assess the ground and vicinity around their roosts, and must avoid brush or thickets that would pose danger on fly-down.
Once perched on its roost, birds will spend most of the night making soft hen noises and inspecting surrounding hens. Later on in the night, mature toms will determine which females they’re interested in mating with before making a decision about which direction to fly down on morning based on this information.
Due to an increased likelihood of predator ambush, tom turkeys will often use their roosting habits as a factor when establishing dominance among jakes and young hens in a flock. Hunters therefore often segment flocks of turkeys before hunting season starts so as to scout them and locate where dominant toms may be hiding until hunting season opens up again.