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 . . . For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America . . . —Benjamin Franklin, 1784
Few holidays embody American traditions like Thanksgiving. The bountiful feast, the time spent with your family, the pies, the breads, the stuffing, and of course, the turkey. How often, however, have you taken the time to get to know the animal you’re so diligently stuffing full of breadcrumbs? There must be a reason Benjamin Franklin pushed for this gobbling bird to be the national symbol. Let’s take a moment to meet our meat, and look at the special life of Colorado’s wild turkey!
There are five subspecies of wild turkeys in the United States, but the Merriam’s turkey is the most commonly found turkey in Colorado. These are considered Colorado’s “native” turkeys, having been kept by people as early as 500 A.D. These turkeys prefer Colorado’s ponderosa pine, scrub oak, and piñion-juniper forests, at elevations between 6,000 to 9,000 feet. The Merriam’s sports stunning coloration, with a mix of black with blue, bronze, and purple reflections. The distinguishing feature of the Merriam’s is its white rump.
A little different from the Merriam’s turkey is the Rio Grande turkey. The Rio Grande was introduced by the Colorado Division of Wildlife during the 1980’s. They’re found primarily in the river bottoms of the Eastern Plains, inhabiting cottonwood-riparian drainages; the largest populations are in the southwest and southeastern portions of the state. They can be found up to 6,000 ft in elevation, but generally prefers a lower elevation and less wooded habitat than the Merriam’s. Originally existing in the millions of birds, by 1920 the population of Rio Grande turkeys had been severely depleted through over-hunting. During the 1930’s, programs initiated trapping and transplanting the turkeys, and today the Rio Grande exists in much of its ancestral range.
Much like you and your smorgasbord of Thanksgiving cuisine, the wild turkey is omnivorous. They’ll eat acorns, nuts, seeds, fruits, insects, buds, and even salamanders. They’ll scratch at the earth to uncover food during the day, and will roost in the trees at nighttime.
Spring breeding season is the prime time to go wild turkey watching. Male turkeys (called toms) will serenade potential mates with very loud and distinct gobbles. As if the very macho gobbling wasn’t enough, he fans out his tail, struts around the female, lowers his wings and drags the tips on the ground. These gobblers will mate with more than one female if given the chance.
Females lay 8-15 eggs hidden in a small depression in ground surrounded by vegetation. She incubates for 25-31 days. These chicks don’t stick around long. They leave the nest and begin feeding themselves shortly after hatching, but even though they generally fend for themselves, male chicks (or poults) stay with their mother through the fall, and female poults stay until the next spring.
So what are the differences between wild and domestic turkeys? Domestic turkeys can’t fly, whereas wild turkeys are very much built for speed. Wild turkeys are very sleek and alert, making it very difficult to hunt or watch them. The constant state of caution that wild turkeys are in makes them one of the most challenging game animals in the world. Domestic turkeys will gobble when just about anything else makes a noise, while wild turkeys will minimally vocalize to prevent attracting predators. The snoods (skin that hangs over the bill) is longer on domestic turkeys, and the neck skin is also heavier. All in all, domestic turkeys have been bred for a large amount of meat and a mild temperament, where wild turkeys have been subject to natural selection—evolving traits for speed, survival, sharper senses, and heightened awareness of their surroundings.