No one needs a bird guide book to identify the male Wild Turkey, Melagris gallopavo. The turkey is native to the eastern half of the US, but it range has been extended by introducing it to other states by various fish and game agencies to satisfy the needs of hunters. Turkeys are now found from southern Canada down to Mexico, in all 48 contiguous states, and also in Hawaii.

The male Turkey is a formidable bird, and appears enormous when he displays. The sexes segregate by sex, and with groups establish a hierarchy by displaying and fighting. This guy was clearly dominating the 5 males nearby. Females also establish hierarchies, in similar fashion. The males are polygynous, and often court in pairs in more. It's interesting that a male who courts females in the company of another male has greater success in producing offspring. The males are much larger, and can measure 50" and weigh 24 pounds. The snood and wattles may seem grotesque to some of us, but it works for them. The dark pendant on the chest is called a "beard", and is composed of fibrous feather analogues. Can be seen on some females.

No surprise they have been extensively hunted for food. Their elusive wary nature also provides a challenge for the sportsman. Western Wild Turkeys supposedly came from Texas birds, a subspecies called the Rio Grande Wild Turkey, Melagris gallopavo intermedia.

Turkeys are non-migratory. They are omnivorous, but prefer acorns, fruits, seeds and grasses. Many animals predate their nests (average 12 eggs in a clutch). Biggest predator of adults by far is man (turkey second only to deer as a hunting target, excluding ducks). Other predators are what you might expect: coyote, bobcat, and mountain lion. And some that might surprise: Golden Eagle and Great Horned Owl.

Extensive information in Cornell's Birds of North America Online, #22, S. Eaton.

Scientific name from birds it resembles. Melagris for guineafowl, gallus for farmyard rooster, and pavo for peacock. Even more interesting is that Linnaeus originally used the common name turkey because he mistakenly believed that the specimens he was given came from Turkey, the country! (Holloway, Dictionary of Birds of the United States).