Wild Turkey

A large, heavy-bodied ground bird. This feather is a deep, dark brown body feather that reflects the bird's rugged nature. Wild Turkeys have iridescent plumage that can flash gold, copper, and green in direct sunlight.

Uniformly dark iridescent bronze to blackish-brown. The rachis (shaft) is noticeably dark. Typical for the darker plumage of the torso which provides camouflage in shaded forest floors.

The lower portion is plumulaceous (downy) for insulation, while the upper two-thirds is pennaceous with interlocked barbs; barbs appear slightly worn at the edges.

Relatively stiff and coarse compared to songbird feathers; the pennaceous section has a slightly metallic or oily matte finish.

Large size for a contour feather, dark pigmentation, stiff rachis, and the specific 'shaggy' look of the barbs at the tip which is common in Galliformes.

Open woodlands, mature forests with interspersed clearings, and occasionally suburban edges or agricultural fields.

Year-round resident across most of North America, from southern Canada throughout the United States into central Mexico.

Omnivorous ground foragers that help control insect populations and disperse seeds. They serve as a major prey base for large predators like bobcats and coyotes.

Black Vulture (feathers are usually larger and lack the specific downy base structure) or American Crow (smaller, thinner rachis, and smoother texture).

The Wild Turkey was Benjamin Franklin's preferred choice for the national bird of the U.S. over the Bald Eagle, praising it as a 'Bird of Courage'.

Fair to Good. There is some separation of the barbs (zipper failure) and the downy base is somewhat matted, suggesting it may have been shed naturally during a molt or lost during preening.