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Wild turkey

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File:Http://z.about.com/d/politicalhumor/1/0/S/H/bush turkey.jpg

For other uses, see Wild turkey (disambiguation).

Wild Turkey
Male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Aves
Order:
Galliformes
Family:
Meleagrididae
Genus:
Meleagris
Species:
M. gallopavo
Binomial name
Meleagris gallopavo
Linnaeus, 1758
Females

The Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is native to North America and is the heaviest member of the Galliformes. It is one of two species of turkey, the other being the Ocellated Turkey, found in Central America.

Adult male Wild Turkeys have a small, featherless, reddish head that can change to blue in minutes[citation needed]; a red throat in males; long reddish-orange to greyish-blue legs; and a dark-brown to black body. The head has fleshy growths called caruncles; in excited turkeys, a fleshy flap on the bill expands, becoming engorged with blood. Males have red wattles on the throat and neck. Each foot has four toes, and males have rear spurs on their lower legs.

Turkeys have a long, dark, fan-shaped tail and glossy bronze wings. As with many other species of the Galliformes, turkeys exhibit strong sexual dimorphism. The male is substantially larger than the female, and his feathers have areas of red, purple, green, copper, bronze, and gold iridescence. Female feathers are duller overall, in shades of brown and gray. Parasites can dull coloration of both sexes; in males, coloration may serve as a signal of health.<ref grasses. Moreover, around 80% of a turkey's diet is made up of grass.{{Fact|date=October 2008}}

Turkey populations can reach large numbers in small areas because of their ability to forage for different types of food. Early morning and late afternoon are the desired times for eating.

Social structure and mating habits

Female with chicks

Males are polygamous, so they form territories that may have as many as 5 hens within them. Male Wild Turkeys display formales by puffing out their feathers, spreading out their tails and dragging their wings. This behavior is most commonly referred to as strutting. Their heads and necks are colored brilliantly with red blue and white. The color can change with the turkey's mood, with a solid white head and neck being urtship begins during the months of March and April, which is when turkeys are still flocked together in winter areas.

Males are often seen courting in pairs with both inflating their wattles and spreading tail feathers. Only the dominant male would strut and drum on the ground. The average dominant male that courted as part of a pair fathered six more eggs than males that courted alone. Genetic analysis of pairs of males courting together show l. The theory behind the team-courtship is that the less dominant male would have a greater chance of passing along shared genetic material than he would if he was courting alone.< title = Kin selection and cooperative courtship in wild turkeys | journal = Nature | volume = 434 | issue = 7029 | pages = 69–72 | pmid = 15744300 | doi = 10.1038/nature03325}}</ref>

When mating is finished, females search for nest sites. Nests are shallow dirt depressions engulfed with woody vegetation. Hens lay a clutch of 10-14 eggs, usually one per day. The eggs are incubated for at least 28 days. The poults are precocial and nidifugous, leaving the nest in about 12–24 hours.

The range and numbers of the Wild Turkey had decreased at the beginning of the 20th century due to hunting and loss of habitat. Game managers estimate that the entire populations of wild turkeys in the United States was as low as 30,000 in the early 1900s. Game officials made efforts to protect and encourage the breeding surviving wild population. As wild turkey numbers rebounded, hunting was legalized in 49 U.S. states (excluding Alaska). In 1973 the total U.S. population was estimated to be 1.3 million, and current estimates place the entire wild turkey population at 7 million individuals. In recent years, "trap and transfer" projects have reintroduced Wild Turkeys to several provinces of Canada as well.

Subspecies of Wild Turkey

There are subtle difference in the coloration of the different sub-species of Wild Turkeys. The six subspecies are:

M. g. silvestris in northern Florida

Eastern Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris)

This was the turkey species first encountered in the wild by the Puritans. Range covers the entire eastern half of the United States; extendingmes|Maritime Provinces]] in Canada. They number from 5.1 to 5.3 million birds. They were first named forest turkey in 1817, and can grow up to 4 feet tall. The upper tail coverts are tipped with chestnut brown. The Eastern Wild Turkey is heavily hunted in the Eastern USand is the most hunted Wild Turkey subspecies.

Osceola or Florida (M. g. osceola)

Found only on the Florida peninsula. They number from 80,000 to 100,000 birds. This bird is named for the famous Seminole Chief Osceola, and was first described in 1980. It is smaller and darker than the Eastern turkey. The wing feathers are very dark with smaller amounts of the white barring seen on other sub-species. Their overall body feathers are iridescent green-purple color.

M. g. intermedia has relatively long legs

===Rio Grande (M. g. intermedia)===Kansas]], New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon, and central and western California, as well as parts of a few northeastern states. Rio Grande turkeys were also introduced to Hawaii in the late 1950s. Population estimates for this subspecies range from 1,022,700 to 1,025,700. and have relatively long legs. Their body feathers often have a green-coppery sheen to them. The tips of the tail and lower back feathers are a buff-very light tan color. Its habitats ae brush areas next to streams, rivers or mesquite pine and scrub oak forests. Rio Grande turkeys are gregarious.

Merriam's (M. g. merriami)

Ranges through the Rocky Mountains and the neighboring prairies of Wyoming, Montana and South Dakota as well as much of the high mesa country of New Mexico. They number from 334,460 to 344,460 birds. ponderosa pine Named in 1900 in honor of Clinton Hart Merriam, the first chief of the U.S. Biological Survey. The tail and lower back feathers have white tips. They have purple and bronze reflections.


Gould's Wild Turkey

Gould's (M. g. mexicana)

Native from central to northern Mexico and the southern-most parts of Arizona and New Mexico. Heavily protected and regulated. First described in 1856. They exist in small numbers but are abundant in Northwestern portions of Mexico. A small population has been established in southern Arizona. Gould's largest of the five sub-species. They have longer legs, larger feet, and longer tail feathers. The main color of the body feathers are copper and greenish-gold.

South Mexican (M. g. gallopavo)

The nominate subspecies, and one of the few that is not found in the United States or Canada. The Aztecs domesticated the southern Mexican sub-species, M. g. mexicana, giving rise to the domesticated turkey which is a popular main dish for the Thanksgiving in the United States and October in Canada. The pilgrim settlers of Massachusetts brought farmed turkeys with them from England, descendants of the original Mexican ted turkeys introduced into Europe by the Spanish, not realising that they occurred wild in America.[citation needed]

Benjamin Franklin and the US national bird

The idea that Benjamin Franklin Turkey as the national bird of the United States comes from a letter he wrote to his daughter in 1784 criticizing the choice of the Eagle as the national bird and suggesting that a Turkey would have made a better alternative.

{{cquote|For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the [[Osprey|Fishing Hawk]Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him.

With all this Injustice, he is never in good Cwho have driven all the King birds from our Country...

I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America... He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to written after Congress spent six years choosing the eagle as the emblem of the newly formed country. While Franklin's disapproval with the choice of the Bald Eagle was evident, it s not apparent that he ever officially advocated for the turkey.

See also

References

  1. ^ Template:IUCN2006 Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
  • "National Wild Turkey Federation". Retrieved May 31 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  • Hutto, Joe, Illumination in the Flatwoods: A Season with the Wild Turkey. New York: Lyons & Burford, 1995.
  • Turkey as U.S. national bird
  • Turkeys from England
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