The Beloved Turkey

By Thomas K. Remington

So what’s the big deal about the turkey anyways? Why are Americans everywhere in love with this bird? After all, most references used with the word turkey in them aren’t something that we all want to be associated with. So, I ask again, “What’s the big deal?” I decided to do some research to see if I could discover for myself why so many people are in love with the wild turkey.

It seems that this romance began a long, long time ago. I read in one account that the wild turkey “diverged” from the pheasant 11 million years ago and were spread from mid-America to northern South America. Now when I first read this I thought what they were trying to say was that the turkey “evolved” from the pheasant 11 million years ago. So, I looked up the definition of diverge and this is what it read as: di-verge – To go or extend in different directions from a common point; branch out. 2. To depart from a set course or norm; deviate.

It sounds to me as though turkeys and pheasants hung out together 11 million years ago until whoever was in charge no longer enforced the “integration of birds law” and the turkeys took off.

Maybe that was the turning point for the poor turkey. The ancient Aztecs of Mexico fell in love with the gobbler so much so that they had two religious festivals a year to honor their fine feathered friends. In addition to eating, they used every part of the bird for something; necklaces, head ornaments and arrows.

The Mayan culture was said to have used parts of the bird in sacred ceremonies. That’s nice! Then I began to wonder what parts of the turkey they would use. Maybe they would use the feet as a sacrifice to the ancient god of the strut. You know I decided I probably shouldn’t go there. Fortunately, the turkey realized it was being consumed too rapidly by these adoring ancient natives and banded together and headed farther north into what would become the United States. They would be safe there they thought.

Then they ran into the Navajos of North America. They were trying to grow corn in the desert and the turkeys found that pretty easy grazing. At first the Navajos tried to fence them out of the crops but it wasn’t working so they decided to fence in the birds. Soon they discovered you could eat the little darlings. That is when the Navajos fell in love with this not so attractive bird.

Because of the high level of reasoning of this remarkable bird, they decided that if they were going to prolong their life expectancy they better move on and so they did. They headed further east and north and ran into some of the North American Indian tribes but these Indians had a different kind of respect for the bird and let it roam wild and prosper. Food was abundant and the bird flourished. Mostly the Indians used bow and arrow to hunt the bird but sometimes they would “call” the bird (not with a cell phone either) by imitating the bird’s call. This they found worked well. The children would hide in the bushes and when the turkey would come to investigate the call the kids would jump out and catch the unsuspecting Tom.

I don’t really know what people back then called this bird but some say that Christopher Columbus called it a “tuka”. Of course this came from a man who thought he was actually in India at the time. Others have said that the native Indians called the big bird “firkee”. Somehow I think over the years if we had continued to call them “firkees” we wouldn’t have been calling some of our not well liked acquaintances a “friggin firkee”.

Now here’s a more believable story about the name of the turkey. Around about 1530, English merchants were traveling to the Mediterranean area to do business. The locals called them “Turkey Merchants” because that entire area was called at the time the Turkish Empire. The Spaniards had brought the turkey back from the new world and when the English saw it for the first time they of course called it a “turkey bird”.

Look out turkey because in 1620 the Pilgrims crashed into Plymouth, Massachusetts and they were hungry. In talking with the Northeastern Native Americans, the Pilgrims heard stories about a big bird they could hunt and eat. Much to their surprise, they spotted these big birds and they very closely resembled the tamed ones they brought with them from the old world that the “Turkey Merchants” had brought back from the Turkish Empire.

The new Americans quickly fell in love with this bird. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that if it hadn’t been for the wild turkey they would have starved to death. On July 4, 1776 the First Continental Congress picked some guys to try and figure out what they could declare as the symbol or seal of the United States. They picked three guys one of which was a die hard turkey enthusiast and was thought of by some to be the first man to leave his wife for hours, days and sometimes even weeks to go turkey hunting (this part is not true). The other two guys thought that to be a bald eagle and soar above everyone was next to godliness. Many who believe in reincarnation do believe that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson together were reincarnated as the first Goodyear blimp (also not true). Benjamin Franklin adored the turkey and believed that it more closely symbolized all that America stood for; after all, you know the gobbler can make his head turn red, white and blue by holding its breath. We know who won that battle. I have to ask, “If we had in fact elected to have the turkey as our national seal, would we be eating eagles and protecting turkeys?”

Americans ate turkeys and ate turkeys and ate turkeys until they nearly killed and ate them all up. I find this odd coming from people who just adored this bird. Settlers discovered that this bird wasn’t the brightest bird on the block nor could it see very well. In other words, they found out the turkey was just slightly dumber than they were and that the bird could be easily trapped. The turkey soon became the primary if not sole means of food.

The pioneers began to move west cutting down every tree in their way and most that weren’t in their way. By eliminating much of the birds natural cover and feeding grounds, the numbers began it dwindle rapidly. By the early 1900s the turkey was nearly extinct. An estimated 30,000 birds remained in a small geographical area of the United States. It wasn’t until real efforts began in the late 30s did the turkey begin to come back. Biologists discovered new ways to capture and reintroduce healthy turkeys to other parts of the U.S.

Again, the American people began to show their real love and admiration of the wild turkey. In 1973 the National Wild Turkey Federation was founded and since its inception has contributed in excess of $82 million on restoration of wild turkeys. Today more than 5 million turkeys roam about in 49 states (excluding Alaska). There is quite a large group of turkeys that spend a lot of time in the Washington D.C. area but that species is not considered a viable part of the real turkey restoration efforts. Scientists have discovered that no matter what their efforts have been, there is no known help for any of these turkeys.

This is the history of the big bird we call turkey so let’s take a closer look at how this bird survives and seems to do quite well if not over hunted. So what is the attraction, the intrigue of this wild animal? No one knows for sure. Some believe because it is the only game animal that is not smarter than man and man can “call” a turkey easily by imitating its sounds. Others think it has more to do with tradition. I think it may have something to do with the powers of suggestion and association of activities surrounding the turkey. For example: My love of venison and deer hunting has everything to do with the wonderful memories surrounding the years of hunting with family and friends. I think it is the same with the turkey. We all love to come home to a house that is radiating the odors of a turkey roasting in the oven. We begin to conjure up pictures and memories of days gone by. I remember drawing pictures of turkeys in grade school while learning about the Pilgrims. It seemed we studied the Pilgrims just before the Thanksgiving holiday. It helped us to better understand and relate.

Turkeys mate in the spring of the year. Gobblers like to stand on high places and gobble. The gobbler is not territorial. Instead it tries to “dominate” the other male turkeys. See why we call politicians “turkeys”. Unlike a politician, a real turkey has the ability to recognize other individuals. Through fighting and posturing, one Tom becomes the big cheese. Usually the hen will come a calling but sometimes poor feller has to do some traveling of his own if there are no hens around.

The hen will begin laying her eggs; about one a day for approximately twelve days (a normal clutch). Once all the eggs are laid, then the hen will begin the incubation period of about 26-28 days. Turkey nests are built on the ground and the mortality rate of the egg is quite high. Only about one third of the hens are successful in raising young ones.

Chicks are called poults and it takes them about 24 hours to bust out of their shell. They can get up and go in about 12-24 hours but look out. Nearly half of the chicks will die or be killed in the first 2 weeks.

The Gobbler moves on after mating and doesn’t assist with the raising of the young. They are called dead beat Gobblers. They generally live a solitary life but will hook-up with some other younger Toms; frequently his own offspring.

The hens and chicks basically spend the rest of the summer, fall and winter eating to survive. The young males in a hens group will move on around November but most of the hens will stay with mother until spring. As food supplies diminish the diet becomes quiet varied. They on average remain within about 350 acres.

During the winter, turkeys will be seen in large flocks sometimes numbering as high as 100 to 200 but usually less than 100. The biggest reason they are together is as much coincidence as anything. They are congregating where the food is. At night they roost in trees. During cold and windy weather, turkeys can be found roosting in heavy conifer trees such as hemlock or fir to protect themselves from the elements otherwise they will be found roosting in hardwood trees not too far from their food supply.

The turkey is a quiet hardy bird and seldom dies of starvation although it can occur in extreme climates. Some fear the increased population of turkeys is consuming the necessary food for ruffed grouse and white tail deer but studies have shown this not to be true. Many times because we are seeing turkeys in large flocks, we assume they must be eating a lot of food.

Like many of the other species of game, it appears that about the only real threat to the wild turkey is the man we sometimes refer to as a turkey and that is because of some of the real stupid things we can do. For some strange reason though, man loves the turkey and will go to some pretty strange lengths to hunt down one of them.

Yes, this is a strange love we have for such an ugly bird. We have performed religious ceremonies; we have chased it far and wide and used it for survival. But, no matter what stupid animalistic things we do to our fine feathered friends, we seem to come back to ensuring its survivability.