There’s a turkey in my yard!

My mom called me all excited, “Sarah there’s a turkey in the yard!”  Turkeys are very large birds that aren’t common in most suburbs, but as their population increases, so may our sightings of these beautiful birds.

Coincidentally, Holly, a regular shopper at the East Lansing Wild Birds Unlimited store shared some fabulous shots of the turkeys in her yard. Holly wrote, “We are blessed with two male turkeys this year we normally only get to see the female and then her young. They are fun to watch and their feathers are amazing in color.”

The Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), the heaviest member of the Galliformes, is fairly common now. However due to habitat loss and over-hunting, turkeys were once on the way to extinction until conservation organizations were established to preserve and expand their populations. Today wild turkeys live across most of the U.S. and their numbers have risen to more than 7 million.

Wild Turkeys are omnivorous, foraging for nuts as well as various seeds, berries, roots, grasses and insects. Turkeys also occasionally consume amphibians and small reptiles like snakes.

If you want to feed Wild Turkeys, I would recommend our Wild Birds Unlimited Wildlife Blend. It’s a nice mixture of peanuts, sunflower seed and corn. We also have cracked or whole corn or the Choice Plus Blend has enough tree nuts, sunflower seeds, dried cherries, and suet nuggets to satisfy any turkey as well as a wide variety of other birds.

Related Articles:
- Do turkeys eat ticks or carry ticks? http://goo.gl/JEsug
- Turkey Trivia http://bit.ly/J1AIpH
- Do turkeys drown in the rain? http://bit.ly/rWtgr5
- Why is a Turkey Is Called a Turkey? http://bit.ly/uKNZe5
- What do Turkeys Eat? http://bit.ly/uUiDsN