INTRODUCTION

Legend has it that Ben Franklin, in an eloquent plea to our Continental Congress, ably related the virtues of one of America's finest birds, the wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). The bald eagle, however, was chosen as our national bird because it represented fierce independence. Two centuries later, we are reminded of Mr. Franklin's habitual wisdom. Wild turkeys are increasing in numbers and range annually, while our bald eagle is finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the relentless march of civilization and is in great danger of passing from the American scene.

The Merriman’s turkey of the West, Gould’s turkey of the Southwest, the Rio Grande turkey, Florida turkey and Eastern turkey are closely related birds which have learned to live in a great variety of climates and land uses. Each has responded well to protection, trapping and transplanting, timber management and other game management practices. Like the deer, once extinct but now inhabiting every county of Indiana, the future of wild turkey traditionally lived in larger tracts of timber, they are already responding well to agricultural ranges especially where unplowed cornfields provide an additional winter food source.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

All domestic turkeys are descendants of those taken from the wild in North America and Central America. Genuine wild turkeys resemble their tame relatives, but generations of escaping meat eaters has resulted in extreme wariness and preference for rapid take off and flights of more than a mile.

The wild turkey’s naked head and neck have bluish cast, while the overall appearance is glossy black with a metallic sheen. Hens are smaller than gobblers, less lustrous and do not have the bristly black beard hanging from the center of the breast.

FAMILY LIFE

Late winter finds flocks dividing into smaller groups with the hens in one flock, young males in another and old gobblers in a different group. These bearded ancestors select and defend against all competitors a territory for their harem. Each morning, they call to and court as many hens as they can lure away from neighboring gobblers. These displays of grand feathers, courtship movement and occasional lusty fights are performed from February through April.

Hens slip off from their companions and throw together a careless but well-screened nest located on the ground and often concealed by brush and low vegetation. Nests may contain seven to 20 eggs, but the average is about 12. The hen seldom leaves the nest after incubation. Pink/brown chicks emerge to live and feed on the ground until they begin awkward flights when about a month old. This family group feeds, roosts and loafs together until large flocks congregate in late autumn.

FOOD HABITS

Insects provide high energy food for fast-growing poult, but the backbone of turkey’s diet consists of wild fruits, acorns, green leaves, seeds, and domestic grains. Those of our eastern woodland feed on sumac, wild grapes, dogwood berries, beechnuts, acorns, greenbrier, roots and tubers. Water is taken freely and grit consumed to grind harder foods.

RESTORATION EFFORTS

A combination of uncontrolled hunting and nearly absolute destruction of timber completely wiped out turkeys in Indiana and other Midwestern states. As late as 1945, it appeared that they might be a vanishing species in the United States. As marginal farmland returned to timber and conservation practices were applied to our plundered land, the state was set for turkey revival.

Turkeys raised on game farms were released by the thousands, but only those with a high percentage of wild blood could survive. Semi-wild birds sought nearby barnyards and rapidly disappeared. Reservoirs of pure wild stock, which had managed to last in wilderness areas, were lived trapped and moved to restore range throughout the United States. With protection and combination of woodlands, openings, water and unplowed grain fields, they flourished.

Indiana now has flocks of wild turkey in almost 70 counties with the majority in the southern part of the state. Spring density over most of the turkey range in Indiana is one to six birds per square mile with some estimates as high as 25 birds per square mile.

Spring hunting for gobblers only occurs in over 50 counties. The bag limit is one bird. Several states in the eastern United States now harvest surplus turkeys each fall in addition to their spring gobbler hunts. Indiana’s wild turkey population currently allows only a spring hunt. The restoration effort is still under way, so surplus fall/winter birds are often trapped for restocking elsewhere.

SOME HAZARDS

Turkeys are especially vulnerable to ground predators during the nesting period. Free-running dogs are especially hazardous. Wily adults are able to avoid humans, but poults can be subjected to great losses by illegal hunters.

TURKEY MANAGEMENT IN INDIANA

To restore this native game bird, the Division of Fish and Wildlife has essentially followed the management plan listed below:

1. Use only wild-trapped birds for restocking.
2. Release on large areas relatively free from disturbance.
3. Allow a limited spring season to harvest surplus gobblers.
4. Protect management areas from fire, grazing and disturbance.
5. Continue our Forest Wildlife Program of habitat improvement and trapping and transplanting wild stock.

Because of these efforts, Hoosiers have witnessed the return of a magnificent native bird.