Last photos of 2025 – Just as i was readying to return home after a twilight walk, the local turkeys began migrating up into the trees for their nightly rest.
Wild Turkey in the Wolf Moon
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Tag Archives: Eastern Wild Turkey
The Cutest Baby Turkey!
What a delight to spy this adorable baby Wild Turkey in mid-September. Based on its size, I think it is only about three weeks old, which is very late in the season for poults.
At one point the hen and poult were separated and they were softly vocalizing back and forth to each other. The poult then flew into a low lying tree branch. Poults learn to fly early on in life to keep safe from predators.
Wild Turkey poults eat a wide variety of insects and gradually begin to include nuts, seeds, and berries. Watch how the hen is teaching the poult how to forage. I think the poult is taking an insect from the hen’s beak but I can’t tell for sure if it is berry or bug.
Wild Turkey Mom looking for her poult
Turkey Towns – A Conservation Success Story!
Dear Friends,
I hope this Thanksgiving finds you well. Hopefully you have a joyful weekend ahead.
I was speaking over the phone with a dear friend who hasn’t visited New England in many years and misses it very much. I mentioned to her how the Wild Turkeys in our neighborhood look so comical when they take off to roost for the night onto tree branches. She said wait, what, Turkeys in your neighborhood? I said yes, of course, they are everywhere, not remembering that when she lived here there was none. She has never seen a single Wild Turkey nonchalantly perusing a city street, let alone gobbling gangs.
Eastern Wild Turkeys were once widespread. An estimated 10 million Wild Turkeys roamed North America, from southern Canada, throughout the continental US to Mexico. As the nation became colonized, the settlers cut down forests as they went. New England was particularly hard hit. The birds lost not only their food supply of acorns and chestnuts, but also their protective cover. Turkeys became extirpated from Massachusetts (no longer living in the state); the last Massachusetts native Wild Turkey was killed in 1851.
As Turkeys became scarcer and scarcer nationwide, many states tried to reintroduce the birds to their historic habitats. According to Mass Wildlife, between 1911 and 1967, at least 9 unsuccessful attempts were made to restore Turkeys to Massachusetts. At first, they tried to release farm Turkeys, not wild ones, but those birds did not survive. “In 1937, the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, also known as the Pittman-Robertson Act, provided much-needed funding for wildlife studies and restoration. With the additional resources, wildlife management methods improved and new capture techniques provided a safe and effective means for live-capture of birds (Wild Turkeys) for translocating to new areas.”
Biologists like Jim Carodoza, who led the Turkey Game and Upland Game Project at Mass Wildlife during the 1970s, began to explore the idea of live-trapping Wild Turkeys from southwestern New York. They would sit in their trucks for hours waiting for the Wild Turkeys to follow a trail of cracked corn, oats, and wheat to an open pasture. Once a gaggle of 20 or so had gathered, the biologists fired an enormous 2600 square foot net to capture the Turkeys.
By the early 1970s, 37 Wild Turkeys had been live trapped in the Adirondacks and released in Berkshire County. By autumn of 1978, the Massachusetts Turkey population had grown to about 1,000 birds. Mass Wildlife biologists and volunteers began live-trapping Turkeys from the growing flocks, transporting them to other areas of the state with suitable habitat. A total of 26 releases of 561 birds made in 10 counties took place between 1979 and 1996.
In just over fifty years, the Turkey population of Massachusetts has grown from that first 37 introduced birds to an estimated 30,000 to 35,000 Turkeys!
Turkey was served at the first Thanksgiving although, according to the journals of Pilgrims, it was one of many game birds served that day.
Aren’t the young ones beautiful! Newly hatched baby Turkeys are called poults, juvenile males called jakes, and juvenile females, jennies.
Happy Thanksgiving and travel safely <3
xxKim
Turkey Mating Season!
Turkey boys in full display, with their stunning feathers and faces only Mama’s could love <3
TURKEYS IN THE MORNING LIGHT
Lucky chance encounter this Thanksgiving morning!
Turkeys at daybreak, doing what Turkeys do when it’s not mating season. The males were foraging and preening in one group, while the females were across the way. The girls were very interested in the milkweed seed pods. I don’t think they were eating the seeds, but finding insects around the pods. The brilliant iridescence in the male’s feathers was extra beautiful in the morning light. 
MORE LOVE IN THE AIR – WILD TURKEY STRUTTING HIS STUFF!
Male gobbler displaying his fan for the hens. The fan is comprised of 12 to 15 feathers. If a jake, or young tom turkey, the center fan will be longer than the rest.
JET-PUFFED TURKEYS IN THE SNOW!
Turkeys floofing and poufing for warmth in the last rays lingering light.
GLOUCESTER COYOTE CHRONICLES – GOOD MORNING SKITTISH ONE
Not allowing for a close-up, this hungry fellow was circling round and eyeing the neighborhood Turkeys.
#GLOUCESTERMA SNOWSTORM HIGH TIDE EASTERN POINT LIGHTHOUSE, BACKSHORE, GOOD HARBOR BEACH SURFERS, TWIN LIGHTS, AND TURKEYS
At sunset this evening, the skies cleared for a bit and one could see the snowstorm departing in an easterly direction, while more squalls were beginning to blow ashore from the west. The nearly half-Moon was rising over the marsh through the clouds. Swells along the backshore were larger than average, but nothing nearly as dramatic as the waves during a nor’easter. Perhaps the waves were bigger on the other side of the Island.
Although I didn’t get a snapshot, the small flock of Wild Turkeys was leaping about at the base of a bird feeder, hungrily looking for food. Which was actually pretty funny because grace is decidedly not a characteristic shared with these large-bottom birds. I wished I had a handful to give them.
CAPE ANN WILDLIFE: A YEAR IN PICTURES 2017
CAPE ANN WILDLIFE: A YEAR IN PICTURES 2017
By Kim Smith
Cape Ann provides welcome habitat for a menagerie of creatures beautiful, from the tiniest winged wonder to our region’s top predator, the Eastern Coyote. Last year I posted a Cape Ann Wildlife Year in Pictures 2016 and I hope you will find the wildlife stories of 2017 equally as beautiful. Click on the image to find the name of each species.
WINTER
Winter: Only partially frozen ponds allowed for dabblers and divers such as Mallards, Mergansers, and Buffleheads to forage at the freshwater. Mr. Swan had his usual entourage of quwackers and daily heads to the other side of the pond to get away for his morning stretches. Sightings of Red-tailed Hawks and other raptors abounded. Although photographed in Newburyport, the owl photos are included, well, just because I like them. An Eastern Screech Owl (red-morph) was seen daily perched above a playground and Barred Owl sightings too were reported throughout the winter. Raptors live on Cape Ann all year round but are much easier to see in winter when the trees are bare of foliage.
The beautiful green eyes of the juvenile Double-crested Cormorants were seen wintering at both Niles Pond and Rockport Harbor. And during a warm February day on a snowless marsh a turkey bromance shindig commenced.
SPRING
In early spring, a male and female American Wigeon arrived on the scene making local ponds their home for several weeks. In the right light the male’s electric green feathers at the top of his head shine brightly and both the male and female have baby blue bills.
Meadow and marsh, dune and treetop were graced with the heralding harbingers of spring with photos of a Red-winged Blackbird, a pair of Cedar Waxwings, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Towhee, Eastern Kingbird, Tree Swallow, and Grackle included here.
The Great Swan Escape story made the news in Boston as Mr. Swan eluded captors for hours. He had re-injured his foot and someone took it upon themselves to call the animal rescuers, which would have surely meant death for our beloved 27-year old swan if he had been wrangled into captivity.
M is clearly for Migration through Massachusetts and the month-long arrivals and departures did not abate. Short-billed Dowitchers, winsome Willets, Yellow Legs, and Ruddy Turnstones are just some of the migrating shorebirds spied on Cape Ann beaches and marshes. The best news in May was the return of the Piping Plovers. Of the five or six that camped at Good Harbor Beach to investigate potential nesting sites, one pair bonded and built their nest mere yards from the nesting pair of last year. Could it be the same pair? The nesting Piping Plover story took up much of the spring and by early summer four little Piping Plover chicks hatched over Fiesta weekend. Hundreds of photos and hours of film footage are in the process of being organized with a children’s book and documentary in progress.
Piping Plover Courtship Dance
Piping Plover Nest
SUMMER
OctoPop
The survival of one Piping Plover chick was made possible by a wholesale community effort, with volunteers covering all hours of daylight, along with Mayor Sefatia and her team, Ken Whittaker from the conservation office, Chief McCarthy, and animal control officer Diane Corliss all lending a hand.
Sadly, several Northern Gannets came ashore to die on our Cape Ann beaches, struck by the same mysterious and deadly disease that is afflicting Northern Gannets in other regions. During the summer season they are typically at their North American breeding grounds, which are six well-established colonies, three in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Quebec, and three in the North Atlantic, off the coast of Newfoundland.
An orphaned swan was introduced to Niles Pond, much to the dismay of Mr. Swan. Eastern Point residents Skip and Lyn kept watch over the two while they reluctantly became acquainted.
By mid-July many of us were seeing Monarchs in much greater numbers than recent years. Nearly every region within the continental United States experienced a fantastic Painted Lady irruption and butterflies of every stripe and polka dot were seen flitting about our meadows, fields, and gardens.
The tadpoles and froglets of American Bullfrogs and Green Frogs made for good eating for several families of resident otters, who are making their homes in abandoned beaver lodges. Little Blue Herons too, find plentiful frogs at our local ponds.
In early August we see the Tree Swallows begin to mass for their return migration. They find an abundance of fruits and insects in the dunes, headlands, and beaches. The Cedar Waxwings and Ruddy Trunstones were back again observed foraging on their southward journey, along with myriad species of songbird, shorebird, diver, and dabbler.
Tree Swallows Massing
FALL
The Late Great Monarch migration continued into the fall as we were treated to a wonderfully warm autumn. Waves and waves of Monarchs came ashore and more butterflies arrived on the scene including new batches of Painted Ladies, Clouded Sulphurs and Common Buckeyes (nothing common about these beauties!).
A pair of Northern Pintails called Cape Ann ponds and coves home for nearly a month while we seem to be seeing more and more raptors such as Red-tailed Hawks, Osprey, Bald Eagles, and Peregrine Falcons. Juvenile herons of every species that breeds on Cape Ann lingered long into the fall—Black-crowned Night Herons, Yellow-crowned Herons, Great Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, and Green Herons.
Just as Mr. Swan and the Young Swan appeared to be warming to each other, the Young Swan, who has yet to learn to fly, became trapped in the ice at Niles Pond. He was rescued by caretakers Lyn and Dan and is now spending the winter at a cozy sanctuary built by Lyn and friends.
Heart-wings Monarch
Thank you to all our readers for your kind comments of appreciation throughout the year for the beautiful wild creatures with which we share this gorgeous peninsula called Cape Ann. If you’d like to read more about a particular animal, type the name of the animal in the search box and the original post should come up
With its expansive marshes and dunes, bodies of fresh clear water, saltwater coves and inlets, and geographic location within the Atlantic Flyway, 2017 has been a banner year for Cape Ann’s wild and wonderful creatures. I can’t wait to see what awaits in 2018!
Snowy Owl “Hedwig” January 2018 Backshore Gloucester
Turkey Bromance
Conferring
From far across the marsh, large brown moving shapes were spotted. I just had to pull over to investigate and was happily surprised to see a flock of perhaps a dozen male turkeys all puffed up and struttin’ their stuff. I headed over to the opposite side of the marsh in hopes of getting a closer look at what was going on.
Turkey hen foraging
Found along the edge, where the marsh met the woodlands, were the objects of desire. A flock of approximately an equal number of hens were foraging for insects and vegetation in the sun-warmed moist earth.
Males begin exhibiting mating behavior as early as late February and courtship was full underway on this unusually warm February morning. The funny thing was, the toms were not fighting over the hens, as you might imagine. Instead the males seemed to be paired off, bonded to each other and working together, strategically placing themselves in close proximity to the females. A series of gobbles and calls from the males closest to the females set off a chain reaction of calls to the toms less close. The last to respond were the toms furthest away from the females, the ones still in the marsh. It was utterly fascinating to watch and I tried to get as much footage as possible while standing as stone still for as long as is humanly possible.
With much curiosity, and as soon as a spare moment was found, I read several interesting articles on the complex social behavior of Wild Turkeys and it is true, the males were bromancing, as much as they were romancing.
Ninety percent of all birds form some sort of male-female bond. From my reading I learned that Wild Turkeys do not. The females nest and care for the poults entirely on her own. The dominant male in a pair, and the less dominant of the two, will mate with the same female. Wild Turkey male bonding had been observed for some time however, the female can hold sperm for up to fifty days, so without DNA testing it was difficult to know who was the parent of her offspring. DNA tests show that the eggs are often fertilized by more than one male. This behavior insures greater genetic diversity. And it has been shown that bromancing males produce a proportionately greater number of offspring than males that court on their own. Poult mortality is extremely high. The Wild Turkey bromance mating strategy produces a greater number of young and is nature’s way of insuring future generations.
The snood is the cone shaped bump on the crown of the tom’s head (see below).
The wattle (or dewlap) is the flap of skin under the beak. Caruncles are the wart-like bumps covering the tom’s head. What are referred to as the “major” caruncles are the large growths that lie beneath the wattle. When passions are aroused, the caruncles become engorged, turning brilliant red, and the snood is extended. The snood can grow twelve inches in a matter of moments. In the first photo below you can see the snood draped over the beak and in the second, a tom with an even longer snood.
It’s all in the snood, the longer the snood, the more attractive the female finds the male.
Male Turkey not puffed up and snood retracted.
A young male turkey is called a jake and its beard is usually not longer than a few inches. The longer the beard, generally speaking, the older the turkey.
Male Wild Turkey, with beard and leg spurs.
Male Wild Turkeys with snood extended (foreground) and snood retracted (background).
When the butt end is prettier than the front end.
In case you are unsure on how to tell the difference between male (called tom or gobbler) and female (hen), compare the top two photos. The tom has a snood, large caruncles, carunculate (bumpy) skin around the face, and a pronounced beard. The hen does not. Gobblers also have sharp spurs on the back of their legs and hens do not.
Read more here:
http://www.alankrakauer.org/?p=1108
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/03/02_turkeys.shtml
http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/fish-wildlife-plants/wild-turkey-faq.html
Struttin’ His Stuff
A face only a Mother could love ~
Male turkey’s faces are brilliantly colored red, white, and blue and change color depending on what mood. A solid white head indicates the most excited.
There were three males courting in this group, with one being the dominant Tom. To attract the females, the males were spreading their tail feathers (called strutting) and spitting. Group courtship like this usually takes place after the winter months in March and April, when they are still flocked together.
Tom and Hen Eastern Wild Turkey
Anatomy of a Turkey Head
1) Caruncles
2) Snood
3) Wattle (dewlap)
4) Major caruncle
5) Beard
Notice the small light tan colored holes to the right of the eye in both the above photo and the top photo. That is the Tom’s ears with which he can hear quite well.
The photo below is not tack sharp so I almost didn’t post however, it demonstrates that this turkey is comparatively more excited as his face is more white and blue than the turkey in the first photo. And you can see the ear quite clearly in this photo, too.
Domestic turkey photo courtesy wiki.