Wild Turkeys
BY: Jerry Qiao
Wild Turkeys Gobble, gobble.
BY: Jerry Qiao
Table of Contents ・Habitat............................1-2 ・Social Behaviors............3-4 ・Appearance.....................5-8 ・Predators.....................9-10 ・Citation Page...................11 ・Glossary..........................12 ・About the Author............13
Habitat
Wild turkeys prefer hardwood and mixed conifer-hardwood forests to live in. They prefer open habitat such as pastures, fields, orchards, and seasonal marshes. In the Northeast of North America, there are various wild turkeys in forests of hardwood timber of oak-hickory, red oak, beech cherry, and white ash.
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The best place for wild turkeys to settle is in the Coastal Plains and Piedmont sections scattered among clearings, farms, and plantations with favored habitats along rivers and swamps. A lot of wild turkeys reside in Southern Florida because of all the cypress.
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Wild turkeys have unique social behaviors. Male turkeys are “Polygamous,� which means that they mate with as many females as they can. They display for females by puffing out their feathers, spreading their tales, and dragging their wings. Behavior like this is often referred to strutting. Males also use gobbling, drumming/ booming, and spitting as signs of social dominance, and to attract females.
Social Behaviors
DID YOU KNOW? A turkey’s head is colored red white, and blue, but the color can change depending on their mood!
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Courtship begins in March and April, which is when they are still huddled together in Winter areas. When the mating is finished, females search for nest sites. The nests are shallow dirt depressions covered by woody vegetation. Females lay a clutch of 10-14 eggs per day averagely, and the eggs are to be incubated for at least 28 days. Poults leave their nest in 12-24 hours after they are born, because they are precocial.
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A p p e a r a n c e
Did you know that when a male turkey is excited, its head turns blue, but when he’s ready to fight, its head turns red? Males also have a long, dark, fan-shaped tail and glossy bronze wings. They are substantially larger than females, and its feathers have areas of red, purple, green, copper, bronze, and gold iridescence. For males, coloration can serve as a signal of health.Â
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Males also have beards, which is typically a tuft of coarse hair (modified feathers) growing from the center breast and is 230 millimeters (9.1 inch) in length. In some populations, 10-20% of females have beards, usually shorter and thinner than males. An adult male weighs 5-11 kg (11-24 lb) and measures 100-125 cm (39-49 in), while adult females weigh 2.5-5.4 kg (5.5-11.9 lb) and measures 76-95 cm (30-37 in,) typically much smaller than males.Â
FUN FACT:
The record-sized adult male turkey, according to the NWTF (National Wild Turkey Federation) weighed over 16.85 kilograms (37.1 pounds,) with records of tom turkeys weighing over 13.8 kilograms (30 pounds,) which is uncommon.
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For all turkeys, each foot has three toes in the front and a shorter, rearfacing toe on the back. A turkey's primary wing feathers have white bars, and they also have 5,000-6,000 feathers. Also, a turkey's wings are relatively small, typical for galliform order. The wingspan ranges are from 1.25-1.44 meters (4 feet 1 inch-4 feet 9 inch,) and their wing chord is only 20-21.4 centimeters (7.9-1.26 inches) in culmen length. The tarsus and tail for wild turkeys are quite relatively long and sturdy, measuring from 9.7-19.1 centimeters (3.8-7.5 inches) and from 24.5-50.5 centimeters (9.6-19.9 inches.)
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While usually lighter than the waterfowl and after the Trumpeter Swan, wild turkeys have the second heaviest maximum weight of any North American bird. On average mass, several other birds on the continent, including the American White Pelican, the rare California Condor, and the Whooping Crane all surpass the mean weight of turkeys, although none other specie are as sexually dimorphic in size.
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Predators
The predator of eggs and nestlings include Raccoons, Virginia Opossums, Striped Skunks, Gray Foxes, Groundhogs, raptors, other rodents, Spotted Skunks, and snakes including Rat Snakes, Gopher Snakes, and Pine Snakes. Predators of both adult and young turkeys include Coyotes, Bobcats, Cougars, Eagles, (with the exception of adult males) Great Horned Owls, Domestic Dogs, and Red Foxes. Even though there are so many predators of wild turkeys, humans are still the leading predator.
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When approached by predators, turkeys and their poults usually run away rather than fly, though they may also fly short distances if pressed. If cornered, adult turkeys may try to fight off predators and large male toms can be especially aggressive in self-defense.
When fighting off predators, turkeys may kick with their legs, using the spurs on the back of their legs as a weapon. They can also bite with their beaks, ram with their relatively large bodies, and may be able to deter animals up to the size of mid-size mammals.
Occasionally, turkeys may behave aggressively towards humans, especially in areas where natural habitat is scarce. Still, attack can usually be deterred and minor injuries can be avoided be giving them an respectful amount of space and keeping outdoor space clean and undisturbed.
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Citation Page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species
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Glossary Pastures: Land covered with grass and other low plants suitable for grazing animals. Orchards: A piece of land planted with fruit trees. Plantations: An estate on which crops such as coffee, sugar, and tobacco are cultivated by resident labor. Cypress: An evergreen coniferous tree with small, rounded, woody cones and flattened shoots bearing small, scalelike leaves. Courtship: A period during which a couple develop a romantic relationship with view to marriage. Incubated: A bird sitting on eggs to keep them warm and to bring them hatching. Poults: A young foul/turkey. Precocial: An animal that is capable of a high degree of independent activity from birth. Coloration: The color or patterns of color on an animal or plant. Dimorphic: Occurring in two distinct forms. Deter: To cause someone or something to decide not 12 to do something.
About the Author
Jerry is a 12 year old at 5th grade in Shanghai American School. He enjoys playing tennis and reading in his spare time and chose to do his Non-Fiction Project on Wild Turkeys because they fascinated him.
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I think its a really good book for beginners because it has great description and details which make the readers enjoy reading. -Jae Hyun I think this book is pretty informational for people that don’t know much about turkeys and to think that these fascinating animals would end up in your plate in Thanksgiving. -Andy Good graphics and clear information. -Jasmine Its a really good book with lots of details and description. -Justin