Wild Turkey

Large, heavy-bodied ground bird with long legs and a wide, fan-shaped tail. Feathers are generally iridescent bronze or green-gold, but flight feathers show this heavy mottled barring.

Distinctive mottled or 'vermiculated' pattern of dark brownish-black and creamy-white to buff. The pattern is wavy and irregular rather than straight bands.

Densely packed pennaceous barbs providing a rigid, air-resistant surface for flight; hooklets are intact except for minor fraying at the edges.

Relatively stiff and coarse with a matte finish. The surface is durable to withstand the brushy terrestrial habitats the bird frequents.

The irregular, wavy cream-and-brown mottled pattern and the broad, blunt shape are diagnostic for Turkey secondaries.

Open woodlands, hardwood forests with scattered openings, pastures, and increasingly suburban margins.

Common throughout most of North America, from southern Canada through the United States to central Mexico.

Omnivorous foragers that control insect populations and disperse seeds while serving as a major prey source for large predators.

Great Horned Owl feathers have similar colors but are much softer to the touch with fringed edges for silent flight; Turkey feathers are stiff and noisy.

Wild Turkeys were nearly hunted to extinction in the early 20th century but represent one of the greatest conservation success stories in North American history.

Good condition; displays some feather wear and separation of the barbs (splits) consistent with a natural molt or contact with vegetation.