Wild baby Turkeys do not take flight in the sense that they are capable flyers. Any reputable hunting site gives good information on how to track a turkey in "flight", "glide", or "wing assisted jump" some even adapted the name "Turkey arch" to describe what it is they are doing. The average turkey fly at speeds of 55mph for around 10 seconds, to get about half mile distance with glide time, most of the energy was from the push of their legs, and when they "fly" to their tree roost; they stand althogh to the tre and merely jump up to the rooster gobbles-- 207.244.138.36 ( talk) 17:52, 14 April 2016 (UTC)-- 207.244.138.36 ( talk) 17:52, 14 April 2016 (UTC) using their wings to assist. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.48.212.114 ( talk) 21:19, 19 July 2011 (UTC)
The map seems to be quite off. I've seen wild turkeys all over Southern Quebec and Ontario. Prince Edward County, Hastings County in Ontario, and Pontiac in Quebec. These are not one offs either, but repetitive sightings. These are rural areas, and since I am seeing them while simply driving around, one would think that areas which are free from humans (ie where there are not roads) might show even higher concentrations of wild turkeys.
Does anyone know where the distribution map comes from?
I did find this:
http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/wildlife/wildspace/life.cfm?ID=WITU&Page=AtlasMap&Lang=
It does indicate breeding in Ontario.
Also, this:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/03/11/wild-turkeys.html
So, it seems the birds had some help. Regardless of help or not, they're here now -- and doing great. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.70.111.174 ( talk) 13:08, 15 February 2011 (UTC)
I've noticed this as well. Besides the distribution map being inconsistent with my personal anecdotal experience of having seen *hundreds* of wild turkeys all throughout Oregon, it also seems to explicitly disagree with the subsequent section detailing the distribution of the various subspecies (which itself seems to be limited / inaccurate ). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.145.70.246 ( talk) 23:59, 5 April 2013 (UTC)
I saw them several times during a brief visit to BC (Arrow Lakes area) including 2 separate groups on the same day. Maybe the map should be removed altogether, and hopefully be replaced with an accurate one. Newburyjohn ( talk) 12:07, 9 November 2023 (UTC)
Original images created by a Wikipedian are not considered original research, so long as they do not illustrate or introduce unpublished ideas or arguments, the core reason behind the "No original research" policy.Do you have a suggestion for a better map? I see a bunch of maps here, but it looks like all of them are under copyright, so we can't use them. I will also note that they differ in many details, including the issue recently raised here, whether the range of the Wild Turkey includes southernmost Florida. Most of those maps also show turkeys in Canada only in the southernmost part of Ontario, as does the current map in the article. Do you see any other details of the map in the article that are not supported by at least some of the linked maps? Donald Albury 01:12, 11 November 2023 (UTC)
_____ I also noticed the Distribution Map is very wrong. Wild turkeys are common throughout the United States and many parts of Canada, as well as the northern two-thirds of Mexico. I currently live in Colorado and have seen them all over the state. I've also seen them in Montana, Wyoming, and northern California (all in areas not shown on the current map in the article). A far more accurate map can be found at the Cornell Lab birding website, and it even misses a couple places where I've seen wild turkeys. The original author and Wiki folks need to make sure this map is updated with current knowledge because I suspect the map used is very old (it appears that a previous commenter tried to delete the map, but it's back up in spite of being wrong). DDethlef ( talk) 16:56, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
You should have a section on what kind of animals prey on wild turkeys 63.26.109.139 ( talk) 06:56, 4 November 2008 (UTC)eric
I moved the image of the domesticated turkey to
Turkey (domesticated)
jimfbleak 05:55, 11 Aug 2004 (UTC)
Speaking as one who lives in the Northeast US, I can back up what liblamb has to say. Jimfbleak, you probably saw the Osceola turkey in Florida. They look a little different than the others as being a little lankier and smaller than the eastern turkey and both have darker tail feathers than the one I think you're describing, Merriam's turkey (lives in the Rockies and California; was the photographer based in San Francisco or L.A. by chance? Was this an illustration?)
As for the other feathers. fear not: wild turkeys really don't photograph well in terms of the colors in the rest of their feathers. They are actually quite pretty, quite irridescent, like dishwashing liquid on a black surface. I often see them near my mother's home in SE Massachusetts roosting in the trees (or running away from a mad artist trying to draw them) and swooping about the wild berry patches like an all-you-can-eat buffet. It is amazing how well they've recovered: when I was a child seventeen years ago you never saw them. Now they are everywhere.
I don't know which image the above discussion is referencing, but the photo labeled "Male mating display" also currently appears as the lead image on the Domesticated turkey page. It should be removed from one of these articles, depending on which type of turkey it actually is. I'm not a turkey expert so I don't know. El Mariachi ( talk) 02:52, 7 January 2008 (UTC)
I removed an image titled for male and female Wild Turkey, since it appears to show two males, and they are apparently domestic or escaped birds, since one is white, and the other appears to be of the widely introduced SW form merriami. jimfbleak 07:18, 30 Nov 2004 (UTC)
I can kinda read into it that "harvest" is "hunting" though it kinda also makes me think there are "wild turkey farms", which is an oxymoron, which leads me back to "harvest means hunting", though sometimes I'd rather not have to be Sherlock Holmes to understand an encyclopedia. So anyway. Are all the states using lotteries to limit the taking of WT's, or just some of them? And isn't a hunting-license lottery rather more common than a come-and-get-it approach? Blair P. Houghton 20:17, 7 Jan 2005 (UTC)
There is some variation between states as to when and how wild turkeys can be hunted in the U.S., but there are indeed limits. First, most states have a season (usu. some time in the spring or fall) when the birds can be taken, and it only lasts a few weeks at very most (some states, like New York, have so many birds they can have two seasons.) It is illegal and generally frowned upon to make a kill out of season. Second, in areas where the bird is less plentiful, a lottery or permit system is much more likely if hunting of the bird is permitted at all. For example, Arizona doesn't allow the hunting of Gould's wild turkey, the subspecies native to the southeastern chunk of the state, and strictly limits the amount of permits it gives out for m.g. merriami. Third, most states have restrictions on how the birds can be hunted, if bowhunting is allowed or dogs and so on. It is NEVER a free for all.
shadowcat60
I should like to see more information on what sort of behavior makes wild turkeys so cunning.
This articel states that Ben's preference for the turkey was satire, however the bald eagle repeats it as being true. Not actually knowing which, I just added the contradict tag. 68.39.174.238 20:16, 26 May 2006 (UTC)
As for Franklin's attitude, perhaps it should be described as facetious rather than satirical, but no doubt it was clever, deadpan, amusing, and definitively Franklinesque. As for what he wanted, he got it: notoriety.
But speaking of contradiction, hasn't anybody spotted it in the opening sentences? "The Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is native to North America and is the heaviest member of the Galliformes. It is one of two species of turkey, the other being the Ocellated Turkey, found in Central and South America. Adult Wild Turkeys have a small, featherless, reddish head...."
Aren't ocellated turkeys (Agriocharis ocellata, according to /Random House Unabridged/) wild? Aren't they turkeys?
(Part of the problem, perhaps, comes from confusing common nouns with proper nouns. We don't capitalize "laughing hyenas" or "raving lunatics". Why capitalize wild turkeys?)
Every wild turkey, I contend, is a wild turkey, regardless of species. Granted, that when referring to wild turkeys, we aren't usually referring to domestic turkeys which have abandoned their festive vocations for the sake of longevity, and that in this article we are using "wild turkey" as a vulgar name for species known to the cognoscenti in glorious Latin, but discussing wild turkeys as if there were one species, then stating that there are two species, is not amusing. Benjamin F. would not approve. The article ought to be changed (split, disambiguated, redirected -- I'm not sure what) to discriminate the species commonly, or not so commonly, granted the exalted title of "turkey." Unfree ( talk) 09:30, 5 December 2007 (UTC)
Can anyone explain what Franklin means by "the Cincinnati of America"??? It looks like a vandalism of "Citizens of America", but it exists in the sources too! What the heck does that mean? -- Bmk 00:38, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
I think I read once that Coronado brought the turkey to this hemisphere...true? 69.0.52.99 17:25, 26 November 2006 (UTC)
I am Including a quote from New Mexico Department of Game and Fish “Long-Range Plan for the Management of Wild Turkey in New Mexico 2001-2005” by Larry Kamees, Wildlife Specialist, Division of Wildlife, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Santa Fe, NM, October 2002.
New Mexico is home to three of the five currently recognized North American subspecies of wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). The Merriam’s turkey (M. g. merriami) is typically associated with areas of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa). The Rio Grande turkey (M. g. intermedia) principally occupies riparian areas in the northeast, central, and south-central portions of the state. The Gould’s turkey (M. g. mexicana) is confined to the woodland-savanna habitat in the Peloncillo and Animas Mountains of southwest New Mexico. The Gould’s turkey is a state-listed endangered species due to the vulnerability of small and localized populations to several identified threats. 63.18.126.181 07:00, 16 February 2007 (UTC) dgillmor
There isn't a nominate species of Wild Turkey? Frankyboy5 03:06, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
There are large populations of Wild Turkey in the mountains of New Zealand. Many hunting websites claim they are so plentiful in New Zealand that they are a big attraction for hunting tourists. Are there Turkeys gone wild anywhere else in the world? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.158.177.163 ( talk) 21:29, August 22, 2007 (UTC)
Turkey calls should remain a separate article. I'm removing the 7 month old suggestion of a merger that hasn't been taken up. Gene Nygaard ( talk) 05:46, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
In the trivia section, it says that female turkeys can reproduce asexually without a tom. The source appears ligitimate in all except for the fact that it is not loading. Can anyone confirm this? Rufous-crowned Sparrow ( talk) 18:35, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
The page loads: it states that turkeys sometimes lay unfertilized eggs in a report on failed embryos. This trivia item seems to be incorrect and should be deleted. 208.29.184.143 ( talk) 03:14, 17 July 2008 (UTC)
We've had a female wandering around alone in our woods for the past 5 weeks up here in northwest NJ. We live by a lake and she wanders from house to house foraging in the leaves, and she's not afraid of us, she keeps her distance, though. Is this normal for her to be alone? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kfboys ( talk • contribs) 11:55, 10 May 2008 (UTC) Sometimes a wild turkey becomes isolated from a flock. The Rio Grande turkey is gregarious, as the article reports. The same is true for birds re-introduced in California. The article doesn't seem to have similar comments for other groups. Fconaway ( talk) 19:43, 16 May 2015 (UTC)
in the article on the Osceola turkey, why has somone changed the text about Osceola to "fighter" from "chief" of the Seminoles? Carlw4514 ( talk) 19:29, 13 December 2008 (UTC)
I think I read the article carefully enough to say that it's very odd that not a word is in there about why this bird is named "turkey" in English. Am I wrong? Happy Thanksgiving anyway! SergeWoodzing ( talk) 12:06, 24 November 2011 (UTC)
Missouri and Illinois are rapidly having a growing wild turkey population as close to White-tailed deer.-- 74.34.81.105 ( talk) 15:51, 14 April 2012 (UTC)
The result of the move request was: not moved. Consensus is against changing the capitalisation and I would echo the comments which suggest that downcasing one at a time via RM would not be a productive use of anyone's time. No prejudice against starting a new discussion which discusses only the primary topic-ness, an issue which got lost in the capitalisation hubbub. Jenks24 ( talk) 09:07, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
Wild Turkey →
Wild turkey (bird) – The current article name violates
WP:CAPS /
WP:LOWERCASE by having its second word capitalized. Moreover, the current article title generates confusion with respect to
Wild Turkey (bourbon), which uses caps because it is a brand name. Currently,
Wild Turkey gets about three times as many page views as
Wild Turkey (bourbon). That may or may not be enough to legitimately call the page about the bird the
WP:PRIMARYTOPIC, but I suspect not - since its number of page views may be inflated by the fact that the current name leads to the bird article rather than the dab page. I notice that the top link returned by both Google and Bing in a search for "Wild Turkey" is actually for the bourbon. –
BarrelProof (
talk) 04:27, 18 June 2012 (UTC)
The accuracy of the distribution map, [1], has already been questioned on this page. Addition questions about the accuracy on a reddit thread here, [2]. Like so many other maps used on Wikipedia this one provides no sources. The source field simply says "Own work". This would be unacceptable for the text of an article on Wikipedia. It should be unacceptable for maps like this too. Pfly ( talk) 08:22, 30 November 2013 (UTC)
I would propose that wild turkey should be merged into domestic turkey because both are the same species- Meleagris gallopavo. Therefore, it is misleading to have two articles, which tends to purvey the claim the two are entirely two different things, which they are not by any means. 184.205.168.56 ( talk) 06:05, 5 September 2019 (UTC)
I've seen wild turkeys in South Florida, which is not covered on the distribution map. Not once, mind you. Several times. OrganizationVII ( talk) 20:07, 3 November 2023 (UTC)