Understanding Turkeys

Understanding Turkeys by TR Michels
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Turkey habits vary greatly by region and even local areas. Some Eastern and Merriam’s turkeys become accustomed to human activity and inhabit cities and towns, while a few miles away the mere sight of a car will send birds into cover. In some western areas birds may frequent farmyards, use groves and buildings for roost sites; exhibit no fear of humans, dogs or livestock; and become pets.

Reaction to Danger

Wild turkeys are extremely wary, with excellent eyesight, but they don’t hear much better than the average human. However, they are very aware of suspicious noises. Their first reaction to possible danger is alarm, the sounding of the “alarm putt”, and they often fly or run away. Turkeys have better eyesight than humans but, because of their widely spaced eyes, they have poor binocular vision and depth perception; they see very little in front of them with both eyes at the same time, which makes it difficult for them to determine the relative size and distance of objects. However, movement makes them alert.

Wild turkeys are normally extremely wary, with excellent eyesight, but they don’t hear much better than humans. However, they are very aware of suspicious noises; their first reaction to possible danger is alarm, and when they are alarmed they usually sound an alarm-call and run away or take flight. However, they will not usually leave their home range. Because of the small size of their brain turkeys don’t have the ability to learn as well as animals with larger brains. With a limited ability to learn, and because they inhabit a traditional home range, fleeing turkeys usually do not leave their range but flee back into it; or if they do leave they return soon after. Because they have not been outside their home range, the risk of danger is greater outside the home range than it is in it. As a result of this, turkeys seldom vacate their home range due to hunting pressure; they may be hunted out of an area, but usually not driven out of an area. They may not even avoid places that have been dangerous to them in the past. I have shot turkeys in the same area where they were shot at and missed the day before.

Flocking Behavior

Turkeys habitually occur in flocks. Hens and the young of the year often stay together throughout the summer in family groups or flocks of several families. In the fall young males or “jakes” form their own flocks and stay together through the winter; they may join the adult males in the spring, during the breeding season. Adult male flocks form in the summer (after the breeding season) and remain together until spring, when some birds go off by themselves, but, toms may form small groups of two or more birds during the breeding season. Groups of gobblers may form an alliance and fight other groups for dominance and breeding rights.

Winter

During the winter, turkeys separate into flocks of different sexes and age groups. The old and young hens remain in one flock, the young males in another, and the toms in yet other flocks. This flocking instinct is strong in most grazing animals that depend on their ability to see and hear for defense. Because they spend so much time eating they can’t always be on guard; therefore, the more animals there are together the more time each one can spend eating while others watch; there is security in numbers.

Spring

With the approach of spring the weather gets warmer, daylight hours become longer and the urge to mate comes over turkeys. The jakes join the toms and begin forming small groups that search for hens. The toms and jakes begin to associate with the hens as they all look for new spring growth (succulent grasses and forbes) and insects that appear near stream beds and on south facing slopes (that warm up first). They look for leftover agricultural crops, mast crops of nuts and acorns; and pick through cow chips, cattle feeding areas, and old and new plowing for insects and leftover food. Where turkeys inhabit hilly or mountainous terrain they may even change home ranges, seeking higher elevations as snow depth decreases and new forage becomes available. They may travel from as little as a half mile, to as many as several miles between their winter and spring range.

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