Rio Grande Wilid Turkey puffing out his feathers. U.S. FWS photo by Robert Burton.

Original wild turkey distribution in North America (image via Wikimedia).

Turkeys are the largest member of the grouse family and they are the second largest wild bird in North America (after Trumpeter swans).  Males weigh 11-24 lbs and females 5-12 lbs. Like many sexually dimorphic species, males are selected for maximum sex appeal while females are more sensibly selected to be the right size to glean food from their environment and escape predators.  Males can get away with being larger than females as they leave all the rearing of the chicks (poults) to the hens and are not a part of family flocks.

A flock of wild turkey, captured by the author as they strolled by. NWF photo by Sterling Miller.

Where I live in western Montana, wild turkeys were introduced about 10 years ago in the upper Bitterroot Valley near Hamilton, Montana. I believe that wild turkeys did not originally occur in western Montana as I’ve found no reference to them in the Journals of Lewis and Clark. About 5 years after their introduction in the Upper Bitterroot Valley, we were excited to see them at our place about 50 miles south.  We’ve been seeing them regularly ever sense.  I took the pictures here last fall when a flock of 17 birds (including 2 adult hens and 15 poults) strolled by. This appeared to be a combined family as the normal clutch has 10-12 eggs. The open clearing and pasture lands created by humans where forests used to grow creates favorable habitat for wild turkeys.

Benjamin Franklin praised the wild turkey and dissed our national bird, the bald eagle, as being “a Bird of bad moral charcter….[who] does not get his living honestly.” I suppose this criticism stems from the fact that smaller birds attack eagles with impunity and eagles steal food from Osprey and other birds. Franklin contrasted the bald eagle with the turkey,

“…a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America….Though a little vain and silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.”

No doubt Franklin’s perception of turkey’s as “vain” reflects the male bird’s strutting behavior during breeding season.  Courtship displays like this, however, are common in many birds and other animals and serve a vital purpose in allowing females to choose the best available mate to father their offspring.  Franklin, himself, was known to dress up to impress the ladies and this is no different in intent or function from what many wildlife species, including turkeys, do.

Today, the term “turkey” has come to mean different things including “a stupid, foolish, or inept person.” However, this definition must refer to domestic turkeys and not the the canny wild turkey.   While the turkey on your Thanksgiving table is very different from the wild turkey, this success story is one I encourage a share this holiday season.

What wild animal or plant are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? Let us know in the comments below!

Longhorn cattle descended from livestock brought to Mexico and Texas by earlier Spanish stockgrowers reverted to half-wild behavior and could be dangerous to a person on foot.

Domestication

Scientists study the origin of domestic animals by looking at bones dug up at sites of early human settlements. The main problem: Telling a wild animal from an early domestic one isn’t easy. True, in the confines of captivity, animals change. They may become less robust; for example, their teeth may become smaller. But when looking at a 10,000-year-old Middle Eastern farm site, archaeologists may find the bones of wild species so early in the domestication process that they had not yet changed into the currently recognized domestic forms. So, are the bones of wild sheep found at an early farming site the remains of animals killed in the wild and eaten at home, or are they early domestics born and raised in a corral?

Despite this difficulty, scientists have used DNA analysis and other methods to begin figuring out quite a bit about domestic animals. Recent studies suggest domestication may occur relatively fast. For example, researchers in Russia who selectively bred formerly wild silver foxes in captivity found that by choosing only naturally tame animals, the little canines took on the look of doggy domestication in just 20 years, including such traits a floppy ears, variable fur color, changes in breeding cycles, friendliness and tail wagging.

Now let’s look at the origins of creatures we might think of as table domestics.

Chicken

Colonel Sanders’ fried bird of choice is descended from Asia’s red jungle fowl, a colorful wild chicken that looks much like some barnyard hens or roosters. In fact, the domestic chicken is considered the same species as the red jungle fowl. The domestic chicken is likely descended from wild birds in Thailand and nearby regions. Domestication in Vietnam can be traced back 10,000 years. Travelers carried the domestic chicken to China by 6000 B.C. and to India and eastern Europe by 3000 B.C. Egypt had them by 1400 B.C. but used them mainly for cockfighting. However, in Greece the tradition of eating them was well established by 400 B.C. Today, some 50 billion chickens are produced yearly worldwide, making the chicken the most numerous bird on the planet.

A wild tom (male) turkey struts his stuff, showing what he's made of in an effort to catch a hen's eye.

Turkey

Here’s an all-American bird, first domesticated about 2,000 years ago in southern Mexico and in what today is the U.S. Southwest. Spanish explorers in the 1500s found the big birds—they can weigh upwards of 20 pounds in the wild—being kept by the Aztecs in what is now Mexico City. The Spaniards took turkeys to Europe, where they were raised in captivity and became a popular food. These domestic birds were later brought back to the eastern United States by colonists. Though the turkey did well as a domestic, it fared poorly in the wild. In the era of uncontrolled hunting, it was shot nearly to extinction throughout much of its original range, which ran from New England woods all the way into the Far West. Restoration programs by state wildlife agencies, beginning in the 1920s, saved the bird, which is now common in many areas where it had been exterminated.

A red river sow and piglet take a nap.

Pigs

Archeological finds indicate that pigs were domesticated at several times at several places in Europe and Asia. Some evidence suggests that domestic pigs were first brought to Europe from the Middle East. Later, however, wild hogs native to Europe were domesticated and became the ancestors of today’s European domestic pigs. Domestic hogs number about 2 billion worldwide, making them the most numerous of the world’s 13 pig species. Interesting facts: Pigs lack sweat glands and so seek water to keep cool; they also use a coating of mud to prevent sunburn.

Sheep

The sheep was one of the first domesticated animals, dating to between 9,000 and 11,000 years ago and descended from Mesopotamia’s wild mouflon sheep, which looks like North America’s bighorn sheep. Mouflon were a good choice for early domestication because even in the wild they tend to follow leaders and are not aggressive. These two factors made them easy to tame and control. Domestic sheep number about 1 billion today, far more than all five wild sheep species combined. 

A Hereford cow in North Carolina. Meat breeds like the Hereford are descended from wild European cattle.

Cattle

The origin of beefsteak and hamburger is murky. Evidence suggests that farmers in the Near East domesticated cattle about 8,000 years ago. These animals later reached Europe and Africa, where people crossbred them with native wild species to give rise to European and African domestic cattle breeds. Domestication of yet another species of wild cattle in Asia more than 7,000 years ago produced the humped species of that region, collectively called zebu and seen in rodeos as Brahma bulls.

True Americans

The wild turkey is a true American species that is native only to the United States, Canada and Mexico. There are five subspecies found across North America. They were almost wiped out in the U.S. due to do over-hunting and habitat destruction by the early 1900s. After successful reintroduction programs, however, there are now an estimated 7 million wild turkeys today.

Wild Turkeys in Fall

Wild turkeys live in wooded areas throughout the eastern United States and in scattered pockets in the West. At this time of year they are gobbling up acorns, hickory and beech nuts, berries and seeds (as well as any small critters they can find) in an effort to pack on as much insulating fat as they can to get them through the cold months.

Gobble Gobble!

Wild turkeys do more than just gobble. In fact, they make a whole variety of sounds.

Eagle vs. Turkey

Benjamin Franklin argued unsuccessfully that the wild turkey should have been America’s symbol rather than the bald eagle. Franklin thought bald eagle was a poor symbol because of its habit of stealing meals from other predators such as osprey.

They Can Be Mean…

The wild turkey might have lost to the bald eagle in the debate over which should be our national symbol, but they are having no trouble bullying people in some cities and towns.

Wild Turkey Facts:

• The wild turkey was a contender for America’s national symbol, but lost out to the bald eagle.
• Wild turkeys are native to North America. Populations plummeted after European colonization as a result of over-hunting and habitat loss. Due to strong conservation and reintroduction programs, however, the population has recovered and is growing.
• Male turkeys are called “toms” and females “hens.”  Baby turkeys are called “poults.”
• Wild turkeys feed on seeds, berries, fruits, shoots, buds and nuts. They also eat insects and other invertebrates and even reptiles and amphibians.
• Click here to hear the call of the wild turkey.
• Wild turkeys live in groups and have a dominance-based “pecking order.”  Those that live in suburbia recognize people and react to them as if they were other turkeys, which can sometimes be a bit of a nuisance.
• Wild turkeys were an important food source for American Indians and were most likely part of the first Thanksgiving feast along with other native foods such as corn, squash, fish and venison.
• This Thanksgiving consider serving a heritage breed turkey and help keep traditional turkey breeds in existence. Heritage turkeys are typically pasture-raised and live better lives than animals confined in mass-producing industrial farms. This method is also better for the surrounding environment.

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!