Hundreds of Rio Grande turkeys hang out here. No entrance fee.īosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge Look for them along 7.5-mile Wildlife Drive, two refuge hiking trails, and in prairie fields beside county roads that run through the refuge. The refuge has a “healthy population” of the skittish wild birds, says deputy manager Greg Dehmer. Follow it around the floodplain wetland, keeping your eyes out for wild turkeys.
Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refugeįrom the visitor center, the half-mile Hillside Trail connects to the Long Meadow Lake Trail. The younger tom on the left (uneven tail feathers signify youth) appears to win. Two gobblers vie for dominance at John Heinz Refuge at Tinicum. You might also spy some along Wildlife Drive. Several short foot trails give you a chance to glimpse wild turkeys. For more of a challenge, take the connecting 2.2-mile Rocky Bluff Trail. The 1.7- mile Wild Turkey Trail leads through woods and offers a fine chance of seeing … you-know-whats. Or try one of the refuge’s five hiking trails. Look for turkeys along 50 miles of gravel roads, including 6-mile-long Wildlife Drive. You might also see turkeys off Round Oak Juliette Road, a scenic paved byway. Turkeys like the open terrain of the longleaf pine sandhill ecosystem along the Florida National Scenic Trail, almost 50 miles of which go through the refuge. To boost your chances of seeing turkeys, lower your car speed to a crawl - “Turkeys are sensitive to the movement of vehicles,” says ranger David Moody - or get out and walk, slowly. A first-year jake with a bright red wattle and a beard patrols at John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum in Pennsylvania. Through conservation efforts over the past century, with funds derived from the Pittman-Robertson Act, and thanks to sportsmen and women, there are approximately 6.5 million wild birds in the United States today, according to the National Wild Turkey Federation. TURKEY FACT #8: In the early 1900s, wild turkeys were on the brink of extinction, with only about 200,000 left. Sunlight brings out amazing colors in the feathers of this wild turkey near Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Ben Franklin called the wild turkey a “bird of courage” and thought it would make a better national symbol. TURKEY FACT #7: Move over, American bald eagle. One jake struts (young male) while another walks at Sand Lake Wetland Management District in South Dakota. Turkeys can clock 18 miles per hour on foot and up to 50 miles per hour in flight. TURKEY FACT #6: They may look off-kilter - tilting their heads and staring at the sky - yet they’re fast. Two toms vie for hens’ attention at Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge in Illinois. Poults develop more of a taste for plants after they’re four weeks old. TURKEY FACT #5: Young turkeys - called poults - scarf down insects like candy.
Some hens strut, too.Ī wild turkey investigates a sound at Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge in New Hampshire. TURKEY FACT #4: Tom turkeys aren’t the only ones that swagger and fan their tail feathers to woo mates and ward off rivals. TURKEY FACT #3: Feathers galore: An adult turkey has 5,000 to 6,000 feathers - count them!Ī wild turkey folds its iridescent feathers, mimicking the look of abstract art, at Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. The larger the diameter, the older the bird.Ī pair of wild Rio Grande turkeys - a tom (left) and a hen - have eyes for each other at Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. Male droppings are j-shaped female droppings are spiral-shaped. TURKEY FACT #2: Turkey droppings tell a bird’s sex and age. Caruncles are bumps of flesh that cover the birds’ necks and heads.
#SNOOD TURKEY SKIN#
The wattle is a skin flap reaching from the beak to the neck. Turkeys also cluck and purr.Ī wild turkey shows its wattle and caruncles at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge in Massachusetts. TURKEY FACT #1: Enough with gobble, gobble. (Photo: Larry Smith/Flickr Creative Commons) Wild tom (male) turkeys parade with fanned tail feathers at Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. Read on to learn some oddball turkey trivia and wild turkey hideouts. Who knows? You might emerge looking less like a butterball yourself. Then walk off the meal at a national wildlife refuge where you may you spy wild turkeys strutting and displaying like those in this funny video, filmed at DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa and Nebraska. Amuse your guests with some offbeat turkey facts. Those odd birds at your Thanksgiving table are even wilder than you thought. (Photo: Bill Buchanan/USFWS) Wild Facts About Wild Turkeys Two gobblers face off at John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum in Pennsylvania.
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