Page 8 - Abacoa Community News - December '22

Page 8, Abacoa
Northern Notes

Let’s Talk Turkey The female, or Additionally, feeding any wild animal can cause it to lose
“hen,” is slimmer and its natural fear of people and lead to them becoming pushy
By Katie Roundtree, duller looking than the or aggressive to get more food. Not only can human-fed
Director of Finance and male, with a blue-gray turkeys become aggressive toward the hands that feed
Administration, Northern head and neck that them, but they may also scratch and peck cars, leave
Palm Beach County lacks the prominent droppings in undesired areas, and tear up landscaping.
Improvement District red caruncles of males. One last fact about turkeys, the story about Benjamin
With the holiday season Females usually do not Franklin wanting the National Bird to be a turkey is just a
in full swing, our thoughts have a beard, but if one myth. This false story began due to a letter Franklin wrote to
turn to entertaining and, is present, it is thinner his daughter. In the letter, Franklin wrote, “For my own part I
inevitably, turkey, a staple at and smaller than the males. wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative
many family dinner tables. An adolescent male is called a “jake,” and an adolescent of our country.” He felt that the “Bald Eagle ... is a bird of bad
These tasty birds are also female is called a “jenny.” A baby turkey of either gender is moral character. He does not get his living honestly … [he] is
native to our area and quite called a “poult.” Wild turkey hens in Florida typically begin too lazy to fish for himself.” (Bald eagles sometimes steal the
common if you are lucky enough to spot them. However, nesting in late March or early April. The female builds a fish from other birds rather than fish for themselves.) Franklin
south Florida turkeys aren’t like the plastic-wrapped birds shallow nest on the ground where she lays an average of 9 wrote that in comparison to the bald eagle, the turkey is “a
we find in our local markets. They are a bit less plump and to 11 eggs. It takes approximately 12 to 13 days to lay the much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native
round, weighing about 17 pounds. entire clutch of eggs and another 25 to 26 days of continuous of America ... he is besides, though a little vain and silly, a
Wild turkeys are social animals and typically flock incubation for them to hatch. Newly hatched wild turkeys, bird of courage.” So, although Benjamin Franklin defended the
together in groups numbering just a few birds to as many called poults, are highly mobile and can feed themselves soon honor of the turkey against the bald eagle, he did not propose
as 20 or more. Wild turkeys roost at night in trees within after hatching. Poults are flightless until they are about two it becoming one of America’s most important symbols.
thicker forest stands for safety from ground predators. They weeks old. After two weeks, the chicks can fly up to trees to NPDES tip: Please pick up after your pet. When pet
are extremely wary and will run away or fly to a tree to roost to escape predators, including coyotes, raccoons, owls, waste is washed into lakes or canals the waste decays,
escape danger. Turkeys have excellent eyesight, including snakes, bobcats, eagles, foxes and hawks. using up oxygen and sometimes releasing ammonia.
the ability to see color. Turkeys are large animals (males can stand 3½ feet Low oxygen levels and ammonia combined with warm
They are powerful fliers, especially for short distances, tall) with powerful wings and sharp spurs on their legs. If temperatures can kill fish. Pet waste also contains
and can fly up to 55 miles per hour! However, to conserve wild turkeys visit your yard, it is essential to allow them to nutrients that encourage weed and algae growth. Overly
energy, wild turkeys primarily walk. They spend most of stay wild by not feeding them. Wild turkeys need to move fertile water becomes cloudy and green – unattractive for
their time on the ground, where they search for acorns, about large tracts of land looking for food and providing boating and fishing. Perhaps most importantly, pet waste
seeds, fruits, insects, leaves, and small vertebrates. They them with food encourages them to stay in one place. carries diseases which make water unsafe.
can easily cover several hundred acres in a day.
Before Europeans came to North America, the wild
turkey population was abundant. They declined in
number from hunting and habitat takeover by humans
after Europeans arrived, but in 1860 there were still more
turkeys in Florida than people. During the early 1900s,
there was a considerable decline in the turkey population
throughout Florida. By 1975, the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission (FWC) managed wild turkeys.
Now, turkeys can be found in all of Florida’s counties and in
every state in the United States except Alaska and Hawaii.
Florida is home to two subspecies of wild turkey – the
eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) and
the Osceola or Florida wild turkey (M.g. osceola). The
Florida wild turkey is best distinguished from the eastern
subspecies, which it closely resembles, by the white barring
on its wing feathers. On Florida wild turkeys, the white
bars on the primary wing feathers are narrower than the
black bars. They are irregular or broken, giving the wing
an overall darker appearance than eastern wild turkeys.
An adult male wild turkey is thick-bodied and larger
than a female. The skin on its featherless head is pinkish-
red with red caruncles (wattles) on its throat and neck. It
has a dark beard on its breast and dark brown or bronze
iridescent feathers. Males, called “gobblers,” have elaborate
tail feathers used during mating. They also have spurs on
their strong feet, beards, and “snoods” that hang over their
beaks.
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