The Return of America's Majestic Native Bird

By Peter Givens

At times we can find ourselves focusing only on the unpleasant news when it comes to what is happening in the natural world of the Blue Ridge.  The latest disease, pest, fire or flood will inevitably dominate the discussion. There are success stories to be celebrated, however, and none is perhaps more observable to the Parkway traveler than the return of Meleagris gallopavo, the wild turkey.  This  majestic native of North America is unmistakable in any season.

European settlers came to America’s shores and were overwhelmed by the incredible variety of flora and fauna that they beheld.  As much as anything, they were intrigued by the wild turkey, and it quickly became a staple of the diet wherever it could be found.  The unchecked logging and hunting that followed as settlement swept across the continent caused such disturbance to the habitat that the turkey was practically eliminated from the region. As forests have returned and the science of forest management has progressed, however, reintroduction of the turkey and its natural population explosion has taken off.  A streamlined version of its barnyard cousin, these naked-headed birds are not particularly adept in flight but can run short distances at amazing speeds.  They prefer woodlands and woodland edges, scratching for seeds, insects, berries and acorns.  They roost in trees at night. Extremely wary, with extraordinary eyesight and hearing, they are prized targets for hunters or those who want to call them up for a close look or photograph.

Spring is the prime season for turkey sightings, as flocks break up from the winter and the strutting gobblers, with fanned tail feather, begin to gather and call out for a harem of hens.  Females lay a dozen or more buff-colored, well-camoufl aged eggs in a shallow depression in early spring and sit on the nest for close to a month, a time when she is most vulnerable to predators. As soon as the eggs hatch, chicks follow the mother and begin to forage on their own.  A common sight for Parkway travelers in the spring is the hen with her brood of young scurrying into the wood’s edge.  The wild turkey’s comeback over the past two or three decades reflects slowly changing attitudes and efforts to improve the overall status of southern Appalachian wildlife. —Peter Givens