Wild turkeys and reader’s questions

George Walter portrait

Photo by Jill Severn

A reader asked whether he could satisfy his Thanksgiving holiday needs by hunting for a wild turkey in Thurston County. Probably not, but the details make an interesting and complicated story.

A second reader, after reading about the introduction of European Starlings in New York’s Central Park asked, “Why would anyone do that?” In the case of the starlings, it was the desire to recreate the world of Shakespeare in New York’s Central Park. The reason for bringing the Wild Turkey into Washington State is less melodramatic.

Wild Turkeys are not native to Washington. However, starting in the early 1900s, game managers on several occasions brought Wild Turkeys into our state. They were hoping to promote hunting by introducing another game bird. And they have been successful. These birds are common in some parts of the state and are occasionally seen in the drier oak prairie areas of Thurston County.

Although they are big birds, they are secretive and well-camouflaged. It’s very seldom that one sees Wild Turkey males out in the open strutting around. Although not widely hunted, these game birds have a small but devoted following with hunters. The hunting for males only is in the spring, the breeding season, and the hunters specialize in calling the males (the toms) into range by using a variety of alluring calls.

There is really no reason to describe these unmistakable birds. If you see them, you will know immediately what they are. Most often, I run into small flocks of females and immature birds, usually in the morning. The toms are more typically loners. At the San Juan Island National Historical Park, Wild Turkeys are often encountered in the English Camp section of the park (although there are other reasons to visit, of course).

Two male wild eastern tom turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) displaying and strutting in front of hens.

The Wild Turkey is a native bird to Eastern and Central North America. It was widely hunted for food by Native Americans, and it is this so-called “game bird” that was likely encountered by the early European settlers in the mythic Thanksgiving story. Some of these birds were domesticated by Native Americans in Central Mexico and, separately, in the American Southwest.

In addition to gold, silver and other loot, the Spanish took some of these birds back to Europe and, over the succeeding centuries, they became widely spread across the Mediterranean, including into Turkey. The British mistakenly attributed these birds to that country and thus the species acquired its common name. Ironically, it is the descendants of these cross-Atlantic birds that founded today’s domestic food turkey industry.

We know this because in North America, the wild members were being hunted to near extinction. It’s hard to imagine today, but in the post-Civil War immigration era and the growth of dense urban living, professional hunters provided food to these urban areas. This intensive hunting, in part, led to the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon and Carolina Parakeet and threatened the Wild Turkey’s survival.

Well-intentioned citizens, organizations, and governmental agencies took action, but their initial approach, just releasing birds from the domesticated flocks, failed miserably. Eventually, the approach changed. Wild birds were captured from various parts of the country and transported to places to establish new breeding populations.

Thus, in Washington, we have populations that originate from three separate sub-species. The Merriam’s subspecies, native to the mountainous west, is found in the central and northwest parts of the state. The Rio Grande subspecies, originally from the desert regions of the west, can be found only in Washington’s arid southeast parts. 

The third subspecies, the Eastern Wild Turkey, is distributed widely but thinly in Western Washington. There are differences between the three subspecies, but that’s probably of interest only to the most dedicated of birders. You can find all you want to know about Wild Turkeys, including identifying subspecies, from the National Wild Turkey Federation.

Whatever species you hunt or dine on, I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving weekend.

Pine Siskin

Pine Siskin Alert

Keep an eye out – this species is making a late fall visit after several winters of scarce numbers. Pine Siskins are appearing in numerous places around Thurston County. These small brown finches always appear in flocks, sometimes smaller ones of 10 or so, and much larger ones also. They are seed eaters and will harvest seeds in the tall conifers. But they also like to visit feeders.

You can readily identify them by their small size, brown striping and bold wing bars. They have yellow on their wings and tails that will flash at you as they flutter around your feeder or as they explode into flight when startled. They are always twittering to each other, including in flight. 

George Walter is environmental program manager at the Nisqually Indian Tribe’s natural resources department; he also has a 45+ year interest in bird watching. He may be reached at george@theJOLTnews.com

Photos for these Thurston’s Birds columns are provided by Liam Hutcheson, a 17-year-old Olympia area birder and avid photographer.