It’s in your nature: The wild turkey

Ben Franklin wanted to choose the wild turkey as our national symbol. After all, they were quite common over much of the country, and in Ben’s opinion, they did not steal their food as the bald eagle sometimes did.

In this country’s earliest years, the eastern forests supported many turkeys, which fed our native Indians and settlers alike.

They may not be our national symbol, but their presence was vital to our settlers and fittingly became the traditional Thanksgiving fare. As often happens though, market hunting and clearing of the forests soon reduced their numbers critically.

My family’s routine after church was to take a country drive. My dad liked the “white oaks” and Penn Forest area near the Bethlehem Reservoirs. I can still picture the spot where a hen turkey and about 8 poults crossed the road in front of the car. That was quite a find.

In the early 1960s, the only turkeys you would regularly see were those raised and released before the hunting season by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. That has changed. Their careful management of the birds led to a remarkable recovery.

Our forest’s trees started getting bigger when much of the logging ceased, leaving less ground vegetation and brush. The more “open” forest floor was easier for turkeys to run to escape and easier to see predators. The oaks and beech trees as they matured produced more mast, a staple food item for them.

The past 10-20 years, turkeys have been breeding and increasing in numbers even in more populated counties such as Lehigh and Bucks. In March, three years ago, in a field near Ben Salem Church, I counted a flock of 121 birds. I’m sure the corn left behind after harvesting lured birds from “far and wide,” but nonetheless, this is quite a change from seeing a rare hen and young 50 years ago.

Male turkeys (gobblers or Toms) will average about 16 pounds while a hen turkey weighs on average about 10 or 11 pounds. Males can also be distinguished by a bare head (hens have more fine hairs and feathers) and by a beard. The gobbler’s beard is actually hairlike feathers that protrude from his breast. The beards grow rapidly sometimes reaching 10 or 12 inches in four or five years. The males also have spurs on the back of their legs, which they will use to spar with competing males in late winter and early spring.

Like white-tailed deer males, the male turkeys will travel together for much of the year except for breeding times between March and early June. It is during this time that the toms’ gobbling can be heard throughout our forests. Hens, after hatching their eggs, will guard their precocial young throughout the summer. As fall and winter arrive, these hens and their young will often flock together resulting in a deer hunter’s sighting of flocks of dozens of birds.

Even though a turkey appears black in the forest, I hope you can find a discarded turkey feather and note that it is really a dark brown with iridescent blue, green and “neat” copperlike colors. Hey get out there and enjoy finding turkeys, and not just on the dinner table.

Which bird populations have increased since the ban of DDT? A. osprey, B. peregrine falcon, C. brown pelican, D. all of these.

Last week’s trivia: The gobbler’s facial growth is called a snood.

Contact Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com.