When I was growing up, I can’t recall ever seeing a wild turkey.
As I learned recently, there’s a good reason for that: Michigan was still working on re-establishing the native bird in Michigan.
In Michigan, the Wild Turkey was thought to have disappeared by 1900 due to loss of habitat and overhunting.
To reintroduce Wild Turkeys in Michigan, wild birds were captured in Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Missouri and moved to Michigan in the mid-1950’s.
The process to restore Wild Turkeys in Michigan has been a success; estimates are Michigan now has around 200,000 Wild Turkeys.
A few things I learned about Wild Turkeys:
- Wild Turkeys average 20 pounds and can grow up to four feet long
- A group of turkeys is called a rafter
- They travel in flocks, searching the ground for seeds, nuts, berries, Wild Turkeys breed in the spring.
- In Michigan, you’ll find Wild Turkeys in mature hardwood forests and open fields. At night, they roost in the trees.
- Since Wild Turkeys are year-round residents in Michigan, they need to find winter food. In the past, Michigan Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologists worked with the National Wildlife Turkey Federation to help private landowners plant winter turkey food plots that can withstand winter and provide food to turkeys above the snow.
- They can fly up to 55 miles per hour (who knew?)
While traveling the dirt roads near us this weekend, I saw 70 Wild Turkeys in the fields. (It was raining, so it’s possible I missed a few.)
I’ve never seen so many Wild Turkeys in one day!
Usually I’ll see four or five in the woods, or up to 25 in the cornfield.
Given it’s so close to Thanksgiving (only four days away), I had to make sure this week’s photo of the week was a Wild Turkey.
Do you see Wild Turkeys near your house or in your neighborhood, village, or town?
