Turkey - Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (Dinde truffe, despite its exorbitant cost, or perhaps because of it, took off. Photo: Dick Dickinson/Audubon Photography Awards, Wild Turkeys. [24], In what is now the United States, there were an estimated 10 million turkeys in the 17th century. [1][2][3] An alternative theory posits that another bird, a guinea fowl native to Madagascar introduced to England by Turkish merchants, was the original source, and that the term was then transferred to the New World bird by English colonizers with knowledge of the previous species.[4]. The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. They do not build a nest, and simply make a shallow depression in the ground. Turkeys are able to survive cold winters by finding mast (the nuts and fruit of forest trees), although this can be difficult when food resources are covered by snow. Wild turkeys typically forage on forest floors, but can also be found in grasslands and swamps. Massachusetts captured 37 Wild Turkeys from New Yorks Adirondacks in the 1970s and released them in the Berkshires. turkey, either of two species of birds classified as members of either the family Phasianidae or Meleagrididae (order Galliformes). Tyrberg, T. (2008). This large-bodied, big-footed species only fly short distances, but roosts in trees at night. They visit our porches. [12] In the modern genus Meleagris, a considerable number of species have been described, as turkey fossils are robust and fairly often found, and turkeys show great variation among individuals. Why Do We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving? | Britannica What is the only state that does not have wild turkeys? You are, to be fair, permitted to whistle. The natural lifespan of the turkey is up to 10 years, but on . Wild Turkey Biography, Songs, & Albums | AllMusic Wild turkeys spend the night in trees. Situations & Solutions Wild turkeys are now a common fixture across all of Massachusetts, which means the chances of encountering them have increased as well. Not wild turkeys, whose numbers in New England are still rising. While, Is a 26 or 28 inch shotgun barrel better? George II had a flock of a few thousand inRichmond Park, however they proved to be far too easy a prey for the local poachers, who plundered them to extinction!