From Opus

Male displaying
Photo by Screech

Meleagris gallopavo

[edit] Identification

• Featherless, red head and throat
• Long red-orange to grey-blue legs
• Dark-brown to black body
• The head has fleshy growths.
• Males have red wattles on the throat and neck and rear spurs on their lower legs.
• Long, dark, fan-shaped tail and glossy bronze wings.
• Female feathers are duller overall, in shades of brown and grey.

[edit] Distribution

United States and Mexico. Feral birds found around the world.

Due to hunting and other pressures, wild turkeys were in serious decline at the beginning of the 20th Century, but with conservation measures and management, have rebounded to a healthy population. They are still hunted throughout the U.S.

Photo by Marysan
Mesa Grande Road, Lake Henshaw, California, February 2006

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies

Six subspecies are recognized:^[1]

• M. g. silvestris - Central and eastern USA
• M. g. osceola - Florida (local)
• M. g. intermedia - North Texas to east-central Mexico
• M. g. merriami - Western USA
• M. g. mexicana - Sierra Madre mountains, central Mexico
• M. g. gallopavo - Southern Mexico (Jalisco to Veracruz and south to Guerrero)

Three additional subspecies, fera, onusta and ellioti are generally considered invalid^[2]

[edit] Habitat

Woods, open woods, fields, pastures, and shrubby growth.

[edit] Behaviour

Forages in small flocks, moving continuously over fairly large areas in search for food.

[edit] Diet

Grass and sedges, berries, seeds, insects and mast, depending on seasonal availability.

[edit] Breeding

The nest is a shallow scrape covered with woody vegetation. The eggs are usually laid at a rate of 1 per day, the clutch consisting of 10-14 eggs. Incubation lasts for at least 28 days. Males are polygamous, mating with as many females as they can.

[edit] Vocalisation

They make a variety of sounds, including the distinctive, loud gobble-gobble-gobble, which carries for considerable distance.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
2. Avibase
3. Brevard Zoo
4. Wikipedia

• List of references

[edit] External Links