There are five species of wild turkey: Eastern,
Osceola (Florida), Rio Grande, Merriam’s and
Eastern.
The most common wild turkey species is the
Eastern, which populates much of the eastern
United States.
An adult wild turkey is covered with between 5,000
and 6,000 feathers.
Wild turkey males are more brightly colored than
hens, and grow “beards,” which are long feathers
growing down from the top of the breast, and
“spurs,” a sharp talon on the back of each lower
leg. Hens can also grow beards and spurs, but only
rarely.
A wild turkey can run 25 miles per hour, and fly
55 miles per hour.
A hen wild turkey will lay between 10 and 12 eggs
over a two-week period. She will incubate the eggs
for 28 days, rearranging and rotating the eggs
periodically. A newly hatched brood must be ready
to leave the nest to feed within 12 to 24 hours of
hatching.
Wild turkeys numbered about 30,000 in the early
1900s. Today, there are about 6.4 million in the
United States.
