Florida Wild Turkey

Description:

Order: Galliformes Family: Phasianidae Genus: Meleagris - The Florida wild turkey, is best distinguished from the eastern subspecies, which it closely resembles, by its darker wing feathers. The white bars on the primary wing feathers, are narrower than the black bars, and are irregular or broken. Major wild turkey nest predators include: raccoons, striped and spotted skunks. Other nest predators include: opossums, gray foxes, coyotes, and domestic dogs. An adult male wild turkey, is heavy-bodied and larger than the female. The skin on its featherless head, is pinkish-red with red caruncles ( wattles ) on the throat and neck, and a dark beard on its breast, and dark brown or bronze iridescent feathers. The female is slimmer and duller, with a blue-gray head and neck, that lacks the prominent red caruncles of the males. Turkeys are powerful fliers, especially for short distances. There wings are designed for short, fast flight, but by alternating gliding and flapping, they can cover a mile rather easily. Adult wild turkeys, have long reddish-yellow to grayish-yellow legs. Each foot has three toes in front, with a shorter, rear-facing toe in back. Males have a spur behind each of there lower legs. The long fleshy object over a males beak, is called a snood. Wild turkeys are omnivorous. They spend much time on the ground, hunting for acorns, seeds, fruits, insects, leaves, and small vertebrates. Osceola ( Florida ) wild turkey. The Florida wild turkey, ( also referred to as the Osceola ), gets its name from its location. It's only found in Florida. There are about 100,000 of them in Florida today. Characteristics: Dark-brown tips on tail feathers. Mostly black wings with very small white bands. Adult males, weigh approximately 20 pounds. Adult females, weigh 8 to 12 pounds. Long legs. Strong gobbles. Very long Spurs. Shorter beard-lengths than eastern. Considered the toughest species to call in. Wild turkeys, are among the most popular game animals, in the world.

Habitat:

Wild turkeys prefer hardwood and mixed conifer-hardwood forests, with scattered openings, such as pastures, fields, orchards, and seasonal marshes. Bald cypress and sweet gum swamps of south Florida. Also, hardwood and oak in north-central Florida. They are often found in scrub patches of palmetto, and occasionally near swamps, where amphibian prey is abundant. They prefer open forests and forest edges, that occur throughout Florida. I saw these five wild turkeys, in a grassy and wooded area of Poinciana.

Notes:

I was driving my car, along the back roads of Poinciana. There were wooded areas on each side of the road. While driving along these back roads, I spotted five wild turkeys, on my right side, and at a great distance. I stopped my car, got out, and took some quick photos. As I got closer, all five wild turkeys flew away. Only one photo came out. These were five, Florida wild turkeys. They were standing in an area, of tall green and brown grass, shrubs, sandy trails, and tall bushes and trees. The tall trees, was a good safe area, for these wild turkeys.