Birds of the Pfeiffer Nature Center
Wild Turkey Meleagris gallopavo Part 2
(mel-e-AY-gris gal-low-PAY-voe)
We left the recently hatched nest of young turkeys in Part I as they took
off on their first foray. The hen
continually gave a reassuring yelp-yelp-yelp and the young followed along
behind as she started them off to see the world. This is the time of greatest
mortality, before the young can fly up to roost. At night the poults must
cluster under her protective wings and breast, on the ground. Mortality during
this time for the eastern turkey ranges from 56 to 73%. This explains why the
hens must lay so many eggs, as do most game birds. This two-week period before
flight is when they are most vulnerable to mammalian predation, and the need for
the poults to respond quickly to their mother's call of alarm.
The poults receive nutrients from the yolk sac for about three days but
after that they must pick up their own food from the environment. The hen leads
the poults to areas where they can find small insects at this early stage. The
young grow rapidly and in about two weeks they have developed juvenal flight
feathers and can fly up to roost. By
5 to 6 weeks they have assumed juvenal plumage. This plumage is not like an
adult turkey and unless the hen is nearby we might wonder what bird we are
observing. They look much like the young of many in the pheasant family,
nondescript brownish birds.
As the turkeys grow in weight they are continuously growing new feathers
to keep up with their weight gain. In two months they weigh almost 3 pounds, in
four months almost eight pounds. During this time they have changed their
plumage 3 times (natal down, juvenal plumage, first basic plumage) and are about
to go through a partial alternate molt of their tail feathers. The central three
pairs are dropped and replaced by larger tail feathers which add greater lifting
surface for takeoff in the heavier growing bird. This tail with larger central
tail feathers is a way of identifying birds of the year from older birds whose
tail feathers form an even fan shape.
The
primary food of older poults and adults from June to September is mainly the
small seeds of sedges and grasses which the birds strip with a single swipe of the
bill along the stem of the plant. They also will eat slugs, salamanders and
woodland invertebrates. When grasshoppers are common in fields they will walk in
line abreast across the field in characteristic pattern, jumping to catch a
flying grasshopper. I have seen this same behavior in the woods when they fed on
the adults of the fall cankerworm (Alsophila pometaria). One crop I
examined contained over 1000 winged males and wingless females of this forest
defoliator.
As fall approaches, mast (paste-like ground seeds) becomes a large part
of their diet to build up fat for the coming winter. The most favored of these
fall foods is the beech nut (now sadly loosing its battle with the beech bark
disease), followed by wild black cherry seeds, red oak acorns, white ash seeds,
and sugar maple seeds in descending order. This fare varies from year to year,
this year itís red oak acorns. Some seasons are beech years, some cherry, some
oak or sometimes only white ash seeds or sugar maple are available. The great
diversity of our forests makes this prime turkey range.
From the middle of January to the middle of March, the western New York
populations in the Allegany Hills may survive (adult males actually gain weight)
on what I term their winter ration. They will eat the seeds of dock, burdock,
and fertile heads of sensitive ferns and the green leaves of sedges and ferns.
Some flocks resort to cow manure spread by the dairy farmer or some find
mast in bare areas such as under small hemlocks beneath beech trees.
They are very adaptable in food habits, perhaps the most adaptable of any
of our northeastern birds. The Ruffed Grouse, a sedentary relative in the same
area, eats a less varied diet in winter. The grouse with its short legs and
lighter body feeds mainly on birch catkins and becomes an arboreal feeder. It
can not cover as much ground as a turkey but the short legs and lighter weight
make it possible to feed on the terminal twigs of pendulous boughs denied the
ten to twenty pound turkey.
The Wild Turkey has made a remarkable comeback from its extirpation in
New York in the mid-19th Century. I first saw the tracks in the snow of a flock
of six turkeys on Mt. Hermon, south of Olean, in February 1950. Since that time
when they were just starting to invade New York from Pennsylvania the species
has steadily increased until today they are found throughout New York State. The
management technique of netting a hen with its flock in the winter and
transporting them to favorable habitat along with an adult male allowed the bird
to expand its range more rapidly. Fred Evans of the Department of Environmental
Conservation was most responsible for this very successful effort. The birds
were at first netted in Allegany State Park and released in adjacent areas of
good range. When these had built up
their populations some of these turkeys were netted and further range expansion
resulted. Later New York State sent this excellent stock to all the New England
states, New Jersey and Ontario, Canada. This stock, originally from Allegany
State Park has been remarkable in its ability to expand its range and adapt to
the modem scene. To maintain its wildness, a well-regulated hunting season, both
spring and fall, is a necessary expedient to maintain its fear of man and keep
its flushing distance at a reasonable level and to prevent overpopulation which
leads to outbreaks of disease such as blackhead disease.
Stephen W. Eaton
Look for Part 1 of the Wild Turkey in "The Ovenbird" Volume 2, Issue 5
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