Wild Turkey (also known as Eastern Wild Turkey, Merriam's Wild Turkey)

The Wild Turkey is a large, distinctive ground-dwelling bird known for its massive body, fan-shaped tail, and bare, colorful head. This feather collection displays the rich, iridescent browns, coppers, and black barring characteristic of turkey body plumage, designed for both camouflage and display.

Rich earth tones featuring dark brown, copper, bronze, and black barring, tipped with buff, cream, or whitish edges, showing metallic iridescence typical of wild turkey plumage

Mixed structure featuring a pennaceous upper portion with moderately interlocked barbs and a loose, plumulaceous, downy base lacking strong hooklets

Smooth and glossy on the pennaceous tips with a soft, downy, and somewhat frayed texture toward the proximal base

Distinctive transverse black and brown barring, metallic bronze or copper iridescence, soft downy bases, and pale terminal fringes

Open hardwood and mixed conifer-hardwood forests with scattered clearings, agricultural fields, and mature woodlands adjacent to water sources

Native and widely distributed across North America, ranging from forested regions of the United States and southern Canada down to Mexico, introduced in various other regions

Acts as an important seed disperser, predator of insects and small vertebrates, and serves as prey for large raptors and mammalian carnivores

Domestic turkey varieties, Ruffed Grouse, and Ring-necked Pheasant, though wild turkey body feathers are distinguished by their larger size and specific bronze-copper barring patterns

Wild Turkeys can fly in short bursts at speeds up to 55 mph, despite their heavy body weight, but they spend the vast majority of their time walking on the ground

Good to Fair condition; some feathers show slightly frayed barbs and wear at the tips, typical of naturally molted ground-foraging bird feathers