Wild turkeys are strong short-distance flyers and in their ideal habitats, they may fly beneath the canopy top and find perches. They usually fly close to the ground for no more than four hundred meters. Although wild turkeys have excellent vision, it only works well during the day. They will not see a predator until it is too late, so at twilight, most turkeys will head for the trees and roost about sixteen meters of the ground and in groups. Wild turkeys don’t migrate, so it is very important during the snowier parts of the season or habitat to learn to select large conifer trees where they can fly onto branches and shelter from blizzards.
Turkeys make a variety of sounds, many of which you might already be familiar with. They can include “gobbles”, “clucks”, “putts”, “yelps”, “cuts”, “whines”, “cackles”, and “Kee-Kees”. In early spring, males over a year old gobble to announce their presence to females and competing males. This gobble can be heard up to a mile away. Females also gobble like males, but it’s rare, and they usually “yelp” to let males know their location. Both adult and immature males often yelp like females. Courtship for wild turkeys is during March and April. Males are polygamous, so they mate with as many hens as they can. They display themselves for females by puffing out their feathers, spreading out their tails, and dragging their wings, this behavior is known as strutting. Males use gobbling, drumming, and spitting as signs of social dominance, and to attract females. Females will nest after mating, nests are shallow dirt depressions engulfed in woody vegetation, and normally hens lay a clutch of 10-15 eggs.
Wild turkeys are omnivorous, they usually forage on the ground or climb shrubs and small trees to feed. They prefer acorns, nuts, and other hard masts of various trees such as hazel, chestnut, hickory, and pinyon pine, as well as various seeds, berries, roots, and insects. On occasion, they will eat amphibians and small reptiles.
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