Some of the birds of this subspecies of wild turkeys can grow very large. The male adult turkey, also called tom or gobbler, can grow up to 4 feet tall and weigh more than 20 pounds. It has a covert tail and the tips of the tail of the long feathers are tipped with chestnut brown color and a dark buff or chocolate brown. The breast feathers of the Eastern turkey are black, while other feathers on the rest of the body have an iridescent sheen. The iridescent sheen ranges in color from rich metallic copper to bronze.

The upper set of wing feathers has white and black bars all the way from the tip to the shaft. The lower set of feathers is predominantly white and is white edged and form a white triangular area when the wings are folded up. Male turkeys also have a fleshy flap close to their beaks called caruncles, which expands due to blood rushing into the flaps when the turkey is excited. Males also often display a beard and a spur as a difference to female turkeys.

Female birds can get almost as tall as the male turkey, but in general they are much lighter than the male turkey only around 7 to 12 pounds in weight. The female turkey is called hen. Even though coloration is similar, the colors are less bright in their iridescent sheen and many female turkeys are of browner color. Female breast feathers are rather brown instead of black tipped and the heads of female Eastern turkeys are covered in a certain amount of feathers, while males ones are not. Female turkeys also do not possess the caruncles around the beak.

The reproductive cycle of turkeys is in spring and young ones are hatched generally during June and to the beginning of mid-summer. Gobblers court for their females in spring until they find one that accepts their dance. After mating, females will make a shallow nest by scratching soil, rather than constructing a nest from materials. Nest sites are chosen so that the hen as a good view of the surroundings and so that the nest is safe from avian predators. The hen will lay about 10-12 eggs into her nest and cover them carefully with leaves and other materials should she leave the nest before the incubation period. Incubation period is approximately 27 days long and every hour the hen will rotate the eggs.

Only hours after the hatching, little poults dry up and follow their mother’s sound and learn to bond with her quickly. They learn quickly how to pick food from the floor and other turkey characteristic movements and behaviors within just 48 hours. At this point, turkey males and females are hard to hold apart, but around fourteen weeks after hatching, they become more distinguishable. It is also said that poults that survive the first 6 weeks of their life have a good chance to make it to adulthood. Over time, there a pecking order will be established and then poults are ready to enter the general social structure of the turkey flock.

The Eastern turkey is one of the most hunted subspecies, but also the subspecies with the biggest population on this continent. If a hunter is hunting in the upper east of the United States, the chance that he is going to meet an Eastern turkey, rather than any other kind, is very high.

As the name might suggest, the Rio Grande wild turkey does call west Texas near the Rio Grande home, but its territory is much larger than that. George B. Sennett first identified the bird in 1879. Sennett described the turkey as being an “intermediary” between the Eastern wild turkey and wild turkey species more commonly found in western parts of the US. This intermediary tag stuck, helping to earn the turkey its scientific name, Meleagris Gallapavo Intermedia.

In Bennett’s days, the Rio Grande wild turkey roamed in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and even down into parts of northern Mexico. When Bennett first came across the turkey, it is estimated that its popular ran into the millions, but within a few decades, the bird on the verge of extinction. In the early 1930s, several Federal programs were put into place to help protect the Rio Grande turkey. The main procedure followed involved capturing the turkeys and moving them to protected areas where they could reproduce and thrive. Although the turkeys are not thought to have reached their previous numbers, they are believed to have rebounded considerably and are no longer protected. Texas is home to the largest population of Rio Grande turkeys. Thanks to the relocation programs followed during the protection period for the birds, you can find Rio Grande turkeys further a field than their natural habit, including in Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, California and Utah.

When it comes to their preferred environment, Rio Grande turkeys are most at home in shrubby areas, usually near streambeds or other small bodies of water. They also like pine forests and scrub wood forests, but they tend to come out into the open much more readily than other kinds of wild turkey that like to stay in the thick of the woods – hence making them an easier target for hunters. Rio Grande turkeys also like to travel in large packs, sometimes of 100 birds or more, which again makes them relatively easier to hunt than other kinds of turkeys. These wild turkeys are extremely nomadic and have been known to move in packs for 10 miles or more, which is an unusually long distance for a turkey to travel. In terms of climate, the Rio Grande turkey is fairly resilient to temperatures and tends to like places that get between 16 inches and 32 inches of rainfall annually.

In terms of appearance, the Rio Grande turkey is slightly smaller than its fellow turkey groups, like the Eastern turkey or the Merriam turkey. A fully-grown Rio Grande turkey usually stands around four feet tall. The tail feathers tend to be copper in color mixed with pale feathers. On the body, the turkeys are covered with light tan feathers with darker tips, ranging from medium brown to very dark brown. The Rio Grande turkey is often lighter in color than Eastern turkey but darker than turkeys from the western part of the US. The undercarriage of the turkey is usually pink.

One thing that sets the Rio Grande wild turkey apart from other turkey species is the fact that it often uses the same roosting tree time and again. Part of the reason for this is that the places in which Rio Grande turkeys thrive usually have very few trees. Switching roosting trees is something that makes hunting down a turkey a challenge for hunters, so the habit of Rio Grande turkeys of coming back to the same trees time and time again makes them an easier target for hunters.

Fully-grown wild turkeys have a small head, which is of red color and bears no feathers whatsoever. Long reddish-orange to grayish-blue legs, a dark brown to black colored, feathered body are common to most turkeys. Male birds additionally have a red throat. Most turkeys have caruncles on their heads and fleshy flaps close to the bill that expands when the turkey is excited. This happens due to blood flowing into the flap and expanding.

A turkey’s foot has four toes and in male birds, there is usually a spur found on the lower leg of the bird. Fully-grown wild turkeys are often called a tom or longbeard. Generally, turkeys have a dark colored, long and fan shaped tail. The color of the overall feather dress is of dark color. As with so many other birds in the wild, turkeys display big differences in their overall shape and color when it comes to sex. The male turkey is generally much bigger than the female turkey and his feathers also display great iridescence in such beautiful colors as copper, red, bronze, purple and green. Female feathers are overall more dull and in the range from brown to gray. Most male turkeys have white coloration on their wings, lower back or tail tips.

Turkeys have somewhere around 5,500 feathers on their body. The tail feathers of a fully-grown turkey have all the same length, while the ones of young turkeys have different lengths. One of the reasons a male turkey is also called longbeard are feathers that come out of the chest of the turkey and somewhat resemble a beard. These beards are generally 9 inches long and sometimes even female turkeys have a beard, depending on their subspecies. Female beards are thinner and shorter than the ones of their male companions. Young male turkeys are also called jakes.

On average, a fully-grown male turkey weighs about 8.2 kg, which is the same as 18 lb, while a fully grown female turkey weighs around 3.2 kg or 8 lb. So far, the biggest recorded turkey as per the National Wildlife Turkey Federation weighed in at 38 lb. Even though they are not seen to cover vast spans of land flying, the average wingspan of a turkey is about 4.8 ft. Turkeys can reach in flight 50 miles per hour and even though most domestic turkeys might never really be seen flying, turkeys are fairly good fliers. Generally, turkeys fly close to the ground and fly never for much more than a quarter mile.

A turkey is often also called gobbler, due to its gobbling bird sound. This sound is used to attract and fight for female birds. Female turkeys can gobble too, but they normally leave it to the male counterpart to do so. Besides the gobbling, turkeys also are able to make other sounds and actually have many different versions of their sounds. Turkeys like to eat grains, nuts, seeds and grass. More than 70% of a turkey’s diet is made up of grass.

There are several subspecies of turkeys all over the world. Most common in the United States is the Eastern Turkey, followed by the Osceola (Florida) turkey, the Rio Grande turkey, the Merriam’s turkey and the Gould’s turkey. If a hunter manages to shoot in his lifetime one of the first four subspecies in spring, he managed a Grand Slam. If he then adds one of the Gould’s kind, he even managed a North American Grand Slam.

The Namesake of the Florida Osceola Wild Turkey

The Florida Osceola Wild Turkey was named after the famous Seminole Chief, Osceola. W.E.D. Scott first described the Florida Osceola Wild Turkey in the year1890. Chief Osceola is famous for leading his tribe against invading Americans in a twenty-year war that began in 1835.

Physical Characteristics of the Florida Osceola Wild Turkey

The Florida Osceola Wild Turkey is very similar to the eastern wild turkey in several respects. The Florida Osceola Wild Turkey tends to be much smaller and darker in color than the eastern wild turkey. However, the Florida Osceola Wild Turkey also tends to have less white veining in its wing quills. The Florida Osceola Wild Turkey tends to display white bars in its feathers. The white bars are often broken, narrow and generally irregular in design. This design does not generally extend all the way to the feather shaft. Another characteristic of the Florida Osceola Wild Turkey is that the black bars also tend to predominate the feather. Most of the secondary feathers of the Florida Osceola Wild Turkey also tend to be dark in color. An easy way to distinguish the Florida Osceola Wild Turkey with the eastern wild turkey is to study the wings. When the wings are folded back on the Florida Osceola Wild Turkey, there should not appear any light triangular patches. The eastern wild turkey, on the other hand, does tend to have these whitish triangular patches.

The Distinct Plumage of the Florida Osceola Wild Turkey

The Florida Osceola Wild Turkey has very distinct plumage that makes it easy to distinguish from other turkey subspecies. The feathers of the Florida Osceola Wild Turkey tend to display green and red iridescent colors. The colors of the Florida Osceola Wild Turkey show less bronze than the eastern wild turkey. The tail coverts has a dark color, while the large tail feathers of the Florida Osceola Wild Turkey are dipped in brown, similar to the eastern wild turkey. Most other western subspecies display lighter colors in these areas. The behavior and colorations of the Florida Osceola Wild Turkey are considered to be ideal for the flat pinewoods, palmetto hammocks, oak and the swamps of its native Florida habitat. In general, the adult female turkeys, also known as hens, are similar to the males in coloration and patterns. However, hens tend to have lighter or duller colors all around, except in the wing feather region. Hens tend to display darker wing feathers, however.

Reproductive Cycle of the Florida Osceola Wild Turkey

The Florida Osceola Wild Turkey has a reproductive cycle that begins a little earlier than the eastern wild turkey. The Florida Osceola Wild Turkey also has a reproductive cycle that begins earlier than other Southern states. The Florida Osceola Wild Turkey population in southern Florida is sometimes active during warm spells in January. Florida Osceola Wild Turkey has been known to gobble during these warm spells, although actual mating does not begin until several weeks later. Most Florida Osceola Wild Turkey will lay eggs during April. The cycle of egg laying and hatching is active throughout spring. Most egg lying of the Florida Osceola Wild Turkey is in April.

One of the most basic turkey calls is one that is intended to sound like a female turkey, or a hen, yelping. To yelp like a hen, you need to make a series of high pitched – almost screech like – noises in short, frequent bursts. The hen uses this yelp in a number of different ways to mean a number of different things, but all you need to worry about is the fact that this yelp alerts the male turkeys that a hen is in the area, drawing them in – which of course means they are coming in closer to you.

Another kind of hen inspired call is known as the call of the excited hen. This cal is similar to yelping, but it is louder and more urgent. Although the call is still made up of single notes, instead of doing the notes in series, you should do them erratically. This is the call that hens used to call out when they are alone and are looking for other turkeys for company, so repeating this call yourself can draw a bird to come and find you.

The next important call to know is not one that you should try to emulate, but it is one you should definitely know the sound of. This call is known as the putt, and it is a kind of turkey warning system. A putt is one, sharp note that announces danger to other turkeys in the area. In other words, if you hear a putt, there is a chance that you have been made and that the turkey is warning all of the other turkeys in the area to scatter. If you hear the putt once, you may be able to save the day by being very still and letting things calm down, but if you hear several putts, the jig is up for awhile.

If you are lucky enough to get a turkey to come close to you thanks to one of the hen calls, you can keep him calm by copying turkey purring. This soft call is not unlike the rolling, reverberating sound of a cat’s purr, but it is done slightly louder. Purrs signal satisfaction for turkeys, and hearing the purr will soothe your prey.

Using the purr requires the turkey to be relatively close to you, but if the turkey is not quite within earshot of a normal purr, you can still send out this comforting message by using the purr and cluck call. The purr and cluck is a louder version of the purr that is accentuated by occasional clucks. The cluck should start the call, then the purr, and so on, with the clucks coming sporadically.

Last but not least is the sound everyone associates with turkeys – the gobble. Male turkeys are the ones who gobble (hence the nickname gobblers), so this call is most effectively used in the fall, when the males are less interested in trying to mate with a hen and instead are traveling in packs of gobblers.

Early History of the American Turkey

The wild turkey that became the early American version of this popular game animal was introduced to the first Pilgrim settlers by the Wampanoag tribe. This was shortly after the Pilgrims arrival in 1620. That first year, for the pilgrims, was remarkably bleak. It is said that many of the first wave of pilgrims died on the journey. During that first winter, roughly 46 of the original 102 pilgrims are recorded to have died. They did not have much luck planting. Most of the seeds that the pilgrims first planted did not produce any viable crops, except for barley. It is said that members of the Wampanoag tribe helped the Pilgrim settlers. They helped them by introducing them to native plants and foods, and showing them how to successfully cultivate these plants of foods. These included squash and corn. The Wampanoag also helped the Pilgrims by teaching them how to fish and hunt in the local areas. The Thanksgiving holiday can be traced back to the year 1621. The feast was celebrated at the request of Governor William Bradford, to rejoice in the success of a healthy harvest season. The Wampanoag were the guests of honor at this first Thanksgiving.

Was There Turkey at the First Thanksgiving?

There is a bit of controversy swirling around the first Thanksgiving feast, as no one can say for sure whether the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag feasted on wild turkey. There are no specific accounts or mention of wild turkey in the Edward Winslow’s much-referenced account of that first Thanksgiving feast. However, there is specific reference to fowl. Fowl, most historians assume, included wild turkeys and dusks. On December 12, 1621, Edward Winslow wrote a letter that made mention of all the food that was consumed at this much-remembered feast. The letter makes specific mention of Indian corn, barley and fowl, which were hunted by four men in one day, and which provided enough to serve for almost a whole week. This letter, published in 1622, is often referred to as evidence for the claim that wild turkey was indeed served and eaten on that first Thanksgiving Day feast.

Future Descriptions of the First Thanksgiving Day Feast

About twenty years later, William Bradford set down another description of that first Thanksgiving Day feast. In it, he refers to the small harvest that was collected and celebrated on that day. In his history of that day, Bradford makes specific mention of a “great store of wild turkeys.” Many point to this as evidence that the turkey has played an important part in the history of the Thanksgiving holiday since the first celebration took place.