The eastern wild turkey is usually
found in moist hard-wood and pine
forests ? its Latin name, silvestris,
means forest. It favors wooded areas
interspersed with open fields, usually
with access to water.

The eastern wild turkey is darker
than western subspecies. The adult
tom is an iridescent dark bronze with
black-tipped breast feathers and
brown-tipped tail feathers. His wing
feathers are barred with black and
white in striking contrast to his darker
body. The secondary wing feathers,
tipped with white, form a whitish
triangular area over the rump when
the wings are folded.
The hen is lighter in color with
brown-tipped feathers on breast and
sides.

Because its range extends into cold
northern regions, the eastern
subspecies tends to grow slightly
larger than the western and southern
subspecies. Mature eastern toms
have been known to weigh as much
as 30 pounds.

MERRIAM?S WILD TURKEY
(Meleagris gallopavo merriami)

The Merriam?s turkey, named in
honor of the first chief of the United
States Biological Survey, C. Hart
Merriam, originally inhabited Arizona,
New Mexico and Colorado, but
stocking efforts have extended its
range into the Dakotas, Nebraska,
Oklahoma and the Pacific Northwest.
The total population is estimated at
200,000 to 300,000.

Merriam?s are adaptable birds that
inhabit both mountains and open
plains, but they are best suited to
scrub oak and ponderosa pine
foothills. These birds are loosely
migratory; they spend summers in
the high country and move to lower
elevations in winter.

The Merriam?s turkey is slightly
smaller than the eastern,
occasionally growing to weigh as
much as 27 pounds. The legs are
shorter than those of other
subspecies. This bird is regarded by
some as the most beautiful
subspecies.

The tom?s body plumage, slightly
darker than that of the eastern
turkey, reflects blue, purple and
bronze iridescent colors. Its rump
feathers and tail tips are light buff to
white, much lighter than those on the
eastern turkey.

Hens are lighter in color than toms
with breast feathers tipped with buff.
The hen?s head is sparsely
feathered and exhibits more color
than that of hens of other subspecies.

RIO GRANDE WILD TURKEY
(Meleagris gallopavo intermedia)

The Rio Grande wild turkey is native
to the arid central and southern
plains states and northeastern
Mexico. The largest numbers are
found in Texas, Oklahoma and
Kansas, and the bird has been
successfully transplanted as far north
as the Pacific Northwest. The
population in the United States is
between 600,000 and 1 million. Its
Latin name reflects its appearance
midway between the eastern and
Merriam?s subspecies.

Unlike the forest-dwelling eastern wild
turkey, the Rio inhabits open country,
near streams or rivers in pine, scrub
oak or mesquite forests. Rios range
at elevations of up to 6,000 feet. The
birds roost in the largest trees
available, but where roosting trees
are scarce, they roost in small
bushes, on power lines and even on
oil rigs. Daily movement to and from
feeding areas may cover several
miles when roost sites and water
sources are scarce.

This subspecies is distinguished from
the Merriam?s by its unusually long
legs and copper-colored iridescence.
The overall body color is paler than
that of the eastern and Florida
subspecies. Its tail and rump feathers
are tipped with yellowish buff, pink or
even tan ? lighter in color than the
tails of the eastern and Florida
subspecies, but darker than the
Merriam?s. Mature toms can weigh
as much as 26 pounds.















FLORIDA WILD TURKEY
(Meleagris gallopavo osceola)

This subspecies derives its Latin title
from the name of the legendary
Seminole chief, Osceola. Its current
and native ranges are entirely within
southern Florida, where it favors flat
pine woods, oak and palmetto
hammocks, and cypress swamp
lands. The estimated population is
between 75,000 and 100,000 birds.

The Florida wild turkey is a dark bird
that closely resembles the eastern
wild turkey, although slightly smaller
in size. It rarely weighs more than 22
pounds. As compared to the bronze
iridescence of the eastern turkey, the
Florida turkey?s plumage reflects
more green and red colors. Its wings
are slightly darker than those of the
eastern turkey.

GOULD'S WILD TURKEY
(Meleagris gallopavo mexicana)

The Gould?s subspecies is found in
the mountainous areas of
southeastern Arizona and
southwestern New Mexico, and in the
Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains
of northwestern Mexico. Its Latin
name is derived from its ancestral
range, which was predominently in
Mexico. Gould?s turkeys are not
legally hunted in the United States,
where the total population is
estimated at fewer than 1,000 birds.
Like other western turkeys, this
subspecies favors rocky,
mountainous areas; it can be found
at elevations up to 10,000 feet.

This bird resembles the Merriam?s,
but the tips of the tail and rump
feathers are whiter. Compared with
other subspecies, the Gould?s has
noticeably longer legs, larger feet
and larger central tail feathers. The
tom?s dark body feathers have a
blue-green hue, and the lower back
has a greenish gold iridescence. It
can weigh up to 30 pounds.

General Habitat Requirements

Early explorers reported large
numbers of wild turkeys inhabiting the
woodlands and plains of North
America, but by the early 1900s
habitat loss and market hunting had
eliminated them from accessible
areas. Surviving birds could be found
only in a few heavily timbered regions
within the species? original range. By
the 1930s and 1940s, it was
mistakenly believed that wild turkeys
could survive only in dense, remote
forests.

In the 1950s, however, as successful
trap-and-release techniques were
developed, it became clear that
turkeys could adapt to many types of
habitat. When supported by strict
enforcement of game laws,
transplanted turkeys readily moved
into habitat once thought unsuitable
for them.
Today, thanks to the efforts of
enlightened game managers, wild
turkeys have been established in
areas well beyond their original
historical range.

Wildlife biologists now view wild
turkeys as highly adaptable birds.
Various subspecies are found in the
hardwood forests of the East, the
palmetto flats of Florida, the arid
mesquite flatlands of Texas, the
coniferous mountains of western
states ? even the prairies of the
Dakotas. But regardless of region,
wild turkeys require three elements if
they are to survive: water, trees and
open grassy areas. Turkeys may be
found in areas where one or more of
these elements is in short supply, but
the population is unlikely to flourish.

Throughout most of their range, wild
turkeys can survive on the moisture
in the foods they eat, but in arid
regions they need a regular water
source ? a spring, seep, stream, lake
or even a rancher?s stock-watering
tank.

continued on the next page