Since this season occurs after most of the hens have mated, the females continue to nest and produce a new generation of wild turkeys. Only "bearded" birds are legal, which almost totally restricts the take to males. The spring season, which takes place during the month of May, is designed to have little or no impact on the population. There are highly regulated spring and fall turkey hunting seasons in the state. Wild turkeys are now legally protected as a game species in New York. More than 6 to 8 inches of soft snow, for over a 5 to 6 week period, can also cause mortality due to starvation. Many hens are taken by predators while nesting. Adult birds can be preyed upon by foxes, bobcats, coyotes, and great-horned owls. Sixty to seventy percent of the poults die during the first four weeks after hatching. The hen will also fake injury (a broken wing) to lead predators away from the young. Their only defense against predators is the ability to scatter and hide in a frozen state until the mother gives the all-clear signal. The young poults are preyed upon heavily by mink, weasels, domestic dogs, coyotes, raccoons, and skunks. These were the first birds in the state after an absence of 100 years. Around 1948, wild turkeys from a small remnant population in northern Pennsylvania crossed the border into western New York. By the late 1940s, much of the southern tier of New York was again capable of supporting turkeys. Old farm fields, beginning with those on the infertile hilltops, gradually reverted to brush land and then grew into woodland. In the early 1900s farming began to decline. This trend continued until the late 1800s when about 75 percent of New York State was cleared land.
By 1850, about 63 percent of the land in New York was being farmed. The last of the original wild turkeys disappeared from New York in the mid-1840s. The early settlers and farmers also killed wild turkeys for food all year round, since there were no regulated hunting seasons at that time. Turkey habitat was lost when forests were cut for timber and turned into small farms.
Studies have shown that healthy wild turkeys can live up to two weeks without food. Turkeys have been known to spend a week or more on a roost when a severe winter storm strikes. Feeding turkeys during harsh winter months is generally not recommended nor needed. They can move long distances to find food, but will stay in a small area if food is locally abundant. Turkeys can scratch through 4 to 6 inches of snow to find food. They frequently spend time in valley farm fields feeding on waste grain and manure spread by the farmers. waste grain, manure, silage)ĭuring the winter, turkeys reduce their range, diminish their daily activities, and often form large flocks. Season-dependent, the wild turkeys' diet includes: The poults can fly when they are about two to three weeks old from then on, they will roost in trees at night. The hen moves her brood into areas of grassy or herbaceous plants where the young, called poults, can feed on the abundant supply of insects. Over a period of two weeks, the hen lays 10 to 12 cream-colored eggs which hatch after 28 days of incubation, usually late May or early June. Her loosely formed nest is usually in a wooded area, but can be in brush or an open field. A single tom will mate with many hens.Īfter mating, the hen goes off by herself to nest. During this time, the toms perform courtship displays-strutting, fluffing their feathers, dragging their wings and gobbling-all to attract willing hens. The turkey breeding season begins in early April and continues through early June. Maintained by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Wild turkey range map from Birds of the World, Less than 10 percent of the female population have a beard, and less than 1 percent have spurs. Hens have a rusty-brown body and a blue-gray head. The females (hens) are smaller than toms and weigh 9 to 12 pounds. Mature males are about 2.5 feet tall and weigh up to 25 pounds. They have a long beard of hair-like feathers on their chests and spurs on their legs that can be from 0.5 inches to 1.5 inches in length.
#Wild turkey skin
Adult males, also called "toms" or "gobblers", have red, blue, and white skin on the head during the spring breeding display. The Eastern wild turkey is a large and truly magnificent bird. At the time of European colonization, wild turkeys occupied all of what is currently New York State south of the Adirondacks. Turkeys were widespread when the Europeans arrived and may have predated the earliest human inhabitants. The wild turkey is native to North America.
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