Wild Turkey

This is a body contour feather from a Wild Turkey, North America's largest game bird. Adult males (toms) are dark with iridescent bronze-green plumage, a naked blue and red head, and a 'beard' of modified feathers. Females (hens) are smaller and duller for camouflage. They are heavy-bodied birds with long legs and a fan-shaped tail used in display.

Dark brownish-black base with distinctive, irregular iridescent bronze and buff-colored horizontal barring. The barring has a 'vermiculated' or wavy appearance. Darker melanin-rich tip.

Primarily pennaceous with a firm, interlocked vane; becomes plumulaceous (fluffy) toward the base for insulation. Presence of a distinct afterfeather and prominent barbicels.

Relatively stiff and smooth texture with a subtle metallic or greasy gloss (iridescence) visible when caught in the light. The surface is durable and somewhat water-resistant.

Characteristic buff and black wavy barring, broad spatulate shape, and subtle bronze iridescence. The squared-off tip and rigid rachis are diagnostic.

Mixed deciduous and coniferous forests with open clearings, agricultural fields, and wooded swamps.

Resident throughout North America, including all of New Jersey, ranging from southern Canada to northern Mexico.

Generalist omnivore (eating nuts, seeds, and insects). They serve as a vital prey species for coyotes and foxes and act as seed dispersers for forest hardwoods.

Ruffed Grouse feathers are smaller and often more reddish; Barred Owl feathers have softer, 'fuzzy' edges for silent flight and lack the stiff, waxy texture of turkey feathers.

Benjamin Franklin famously preferred the Wild Turkey over the Bald Eagle as a national symbol. These birds can fly up to 55 mph and run up to 25 mph. They roost in trees at night to avoid ground predators.

Fair to Good; shows significant mechanical wear on the edges (fraying) and some separation of the barbs ('zipped' open), suggesting it was collected as a molted specimen or after a predator strike.

new jersey