Wild turkey

Meleagris gallopavo

A large North American galliform of forests and grasslands, ancestor of the domestic turkey and famous for the male's fanned tail.

Key facts

Wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is an omnivore animal classified as Bird · Galliformes · Phasianidae.
Primary habitats are forest · grassland, with a range across Nearctic.
Activity is diurnal, sociality is loose group, and conservation status is LC (Least Concern).
A large North American galliform of forests and grasslands, ancestor of the domestic turkey and famous for the male's fanned tail.
Lives in mosaics of deciduous forest, woodland edge, grassland, farmland, and shrubland, roosting in trees at night.

Habitat range map

Native rangeOccasional / Transient

Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)

Lives in mosaics of deciduous forest, woodland edge, grassland, farmland, and shrubland, roosting in trees at night.

Males are large with iridescent dark plumage, bare heads, wattles, and broad fan tails. Females are smaller and duller.

It forages on foot by day, while males court in spring with gobbling calls and tail-fanning displays.

Acorns, seeds, fruit, leaves, insects, and small reptiles are eaten, often scratched from the ground.

Females lay eggs in shallow ground nests and incubate alone. Chicks walk soon after hatching and follow the hen while feeding.

Once reduced in many areas, it rebounded through reintroductions and hunting management across much of North America.