tags: Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo, Manhattan, Kansas, birds, Image of the Day
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GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her "dream" research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands. GrrlScientist has written a blog about science since 4 August 2004 (the early years are archived here) and was part of the original invited group of 14 "SciBlings" -- her only claim to fame. If you appreciate GrrlScientist's writing, please help her pay her living expenses by clicking on the Paypal button below and by voting for her to be the official blogger on a month long adventure in Antarctica. If you read an essay that you especially enjoyed, please nominate it for OpenLab2009.
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Wild Turkey
Topic Categories: Birding • Birds • Image of the Day • Manhattan, Kansas • Ornithology • Photography and cameras
Posted on: April 7, 2008 2:59 PM, by "GrrlScientist"
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Comments
I went for a walk today at work (in a suburban area surrounded by secondary growth woodland) and there was a very proud wild tom turkey loudly advertising his availability for the fertilization of eggs. (At least, that's what I assume he was doing.)
He sounded to be about 30 yards off into the trees, and though I scanned the underbrush, I couldn't see him at all.
Posted by: HP | April 7, 2008 10:21 PM
What a stunning looking bird.
Far better looking than his white farmed relatives.
Posted by: Chris' Wills | April 7, 2008 10:51 PM
Gorgeous! No wonder Ben Franklin wanted them for our national bird (instead of the bald eagle).
Posted by: David Harmon | April 8, 2008 10:28 AM
i am always amazed at how cryptic these birds can be, despite their large size and stunning coloration. i was disappointed when in kansas since all my pictures of them ended up being pictures of brush heaps with random dark blobs behind the brush.
after growing up in a farming community, i am convinced that farmers selectively bred small domestic animals to be white (and stupid) because they couldn't otherwise see them to farm them effectively. as an added bonus, white animals are easier to see in those huge, barely-lit barns that are used for modern factory-farming, too.
Posted by: "GrrlScientist" | April 8, 2008 11:29 AM
I am wondering what subspecies this tom turkey is. The whitish tips to the tail would seem to rule out the eastern subspecies, which has more brownish-tan tips.
Posted by: Phil Hotlen | April 9, 2008 11:18 PM
It is the Rio Grande subspecies (Meleagris gallapavo intermedia). A fairly accurate map of the ranges of the various subspecies can be found here.
Posted by: Albatrossity | April 10, 2008 7:20 AM