Page 5 - Jupiter Ocean Mile - December '22

Jupiter Ocean Mile, Page 5
Northern Notes

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