Thought you knew all there is to know about the odd birds at your table this week?
Think again. The group is even wilder than you thought.
Amuse your guests with some offbeat turkey facts. Then walk off the
meal at a national wildlife refuge where you may you spy wild turkeys
strutting and fanning their feathers like those in this video, filmed at
DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa and Nebraska. Who knows? You might emerge looking less like a butterball yourself. (Just joking.)
Read on and you’ll learn some oddball turkey trivia and favorite wild turkey hideouts.
TURKEY FACT #1: Enough with
gobble, gobble. Turkeys also
cluck and purr.
A wild turkey shows its wattle and caruncles at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge
in Massachusetts. The wattle is a skin flap reaching from the beak to
the neck. Caruncles are bumps of flesh that cover the birds’ necks and
heads. (Photo: Matt Poole/USFWS)
TURKEY FACT #2:
Turkey droppings tell a bird’s sex and age. Male droppings are
j-shaped; female droppings are spiral-shaped. The larger the diameter,
the older the bird.
TURKEY FACT #3: Feathers galore: An adult turkey has 5,000 to 6,000 feathers
— count them!.
TURKEY FACT #4:
Tom turkeys aren’t the only ones that swagger and fan their tail
feathers to woo mates and ward off rivals. Some hens strut, too.
TURKEY FACT #5:
Young turkeys — called poults — scarf down insects like candy. Poults
develop more of a taste for plants after they’re four weeks old.
TURKEY FACT #6: They may look off-kilter
— tilting their heads and staring at the sky
— yet they’re fast. Turkeys can clock more than 12 miles per hour.
TURKEY FACT #7:
Move over, American bald eagle. Ben Franklin called the wild turkey a
“bird of courage” and thought it would make a better national symbol.
Turkey-rich refuges:
FLORIDA
St Marks National Wildlife Refuge
To boost your chances of seeing turkeys, lower your car speed to a crawl
— “Turkeys are sensitive to the movement of vehicles,” says ranger David Moody
— or get out
and
walk, slowly. The refuge is closed to hunting until December 10.
Turkeys like the open terrain of the longleaf pine sandhill ecosystem
along the Florida National Scenic Trail, almost 50 miles of which go
through the refuge. $5 entrance fee.
GEORGIA
Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge
Look for turkeys along 50 miles of gravel
roads, including 6-mile-long Wildlife Drive. You might also see turkeys
off Round Oak Juliette Road, a scenic paved byway. Or try one of the
refuge’s five hiking trails. No entrance fee.
ILLINOIS
Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge
The 1.7- mile Wild Turkey Trail leads through woods and offers a fine
chance of seeing … you-know-whats. For more of a challenge, take the
connecting 2.2-mile Rocky Bluff Trail. Entrance fee: $2 per vehicle.
MASSACHUSETTS
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge
Several short foot trails give you a chance to glimpse wild turkeys.
You might also spy some along Wildlife Drive. Entrance fee: $5 per
vehicle.
Two gobblers vie for dominance at
John Heinz Refuge at Tinicum. The younger tom on the left (uneven tail
feathers signify youth) appears to win. (Photo: Bill Buchanan/USFWS)
More turkey-rich refuges:
MINNESOTA
Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge
From the visitor center, the half-mile Hillside Trail connects to
the Long Meadow Lake Trail. Follow it around the floodplain wetland,
keeping your eyes out for wild turkeys. No entrance fee.
Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge
The refuge has a “healthy population” of the skittish wild birds,
says deputy manager Greg Dehmer. Look for them along 7.5-mile Wildlife
Drive, two refuge hiking trails, and in prairie fields beside county
roads that run through the refuge. No entrance fee.
NEW MEXICO
Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
Hundreds of Rio Grande turkeys hang out here. The North and South
Auto Tour Loops are good places to spot some. Other good spots: along
the Rio Viejo Trail, the John Taylor Memorial Trail or the bike trail
on the east side service road of the Low Flow Conveyance Channel.
Entrance fee: $5 per vehicle
NEW YORK
Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge
Feeder Road takes you on a scenic 3.5-mile drive into the refuge,
passing fields and grasslands that are favorite turkey hangouts. The
road is open to cars now through February, and to hikers and cyclists
year-round. Three other hiking trails are also available. No entrance
fee.
Still more turkey-rich refuges:
SOUTH CAROLINA
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
Nine-mile Wildlife Drive passes woods and fields where you might spot
turkeys, especially in mornings and late afternoons. Or walk any of
five hiking trails along the drive. An observation tower in the Oxpen
Unit offers exceptional birding and scenic views. No entrance fee.
TEXAS
Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge
Look for wild turkeys crossing Refuge Road as you drive in the main
entrance. Raasch Trail is also a good bet for seeing wild turkeys. No
entrance fee.
Refuge trails are open sunrise to sunset daily, even on Thanksgiving
Day when refuge visitor centers will be closed. Free trail maps are
available outside the visitor center or at a refuge entrance kiosk.
Here’s
more information on National Wildlife Refuge System trails.
Rio Grande wild turkeys, a Merriam’s subspecies, strut
and feed in Wyoming. (Photo: Courtesy of the National Turkey
Federation)