Life List 102
Visually documented
Wild Turkey
Meleagris gallopavo
- First photographed
- July 13, 2026
- First location
- Colorado, United States
- Conservation status
- Least Concern
An evolving study
Wild Turkey portfolio
This collection grows as I return to photograph new behavior, habitat, seasons, and stages of life.
Natural history
Species at a glance
Meleagris gallopavo
Overview
The Wild Turkey is a large North American gamebird that forages in flocks by day and roosts in trees at night. Males perform elaborate strutting displays with fanned tails, lowered wings, and changing head colors.
Identification
Massive dark body with iridescent bronze and green feathers, long legs, small bare head, and broad rounded wings. Adult males are larger with prominent facial ornaments, a breast beard, and fan-shaped tail; females are browner and less ornate.
Range
Native across much of the United States and Mexico, with reintroduced populations restoring the species to many parts of its former range and introducing it in some western areas.
Habitat
Mature woodland near openings, oak forest, pine-oak country, river bottoms, grassland edges, farms, and wooded suburbs.
Diet
Acorns, nuts, seeds, berries, leaves, roots, insects, snails, and small vertebrates; young birds eat many invertebrates.
Photography by Brittany Templin
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