jim wright
Expect to see more wild turkeys in the coming months as they congregate near food sources, an expert says.
Posted on 12/04/2014 7:36:59 PM PST by Coleus
Here's a toast to turkeys — not the ones gracing so many dinner plates a week from today, but the wild ones that have made a remarkable comeback in New Jersey in recent decades after disappearing in the mid-1850s. Since the state Division of Fish and Wildlife reintroduced wild turkeys to the state with the release of 22 birds in 1977, the population has grown to more than 20,000. Folks will likely start seeing more and more flocks of turkeys in our region in coming weeks and into next spring as these large birds congregate near food sources.
Last April, it seemed like wild turkeys were popping up everywhere in North Jersey — including my own back yard, where a tribe of 15 wandered past in search of food one morning. A friend even sent a picture of a turkey crossing at an intersection in downtown Bloomfield (though it was unclear if the traffic light was green). There were also several reports of Toms harassing walkers or chasing people's cars as they left their driveways.
What to make of all this? For the answers, I called Tony McBride, a principal wildlife biologist for the N.J. Division of Fish and Wildlife, the state agency that has dealt with these birds in suburbs for the past two decades.
Q. Why do we see so many turkeys in the colder months?
Turkeys form their biggest flocks in the winter, when they seem to concentrate around food sources. In the spring, the flocks disperse and the hens travel across the countryside looking for a place to make a nest. In the suburban/urban interface — Essex, Bergen, places like that — you'll have flare-ups of turkey activity from time to time, but they don't seem to persist in an area for more than five years or so. Things change, and you might see flocks crop up in another area.
Q. Is the turkey population increasing in New Jersey?
Our population peaked around 2001 after a lot of good production. We've had a lot of wet springs and the birds haven't been able to rear as many young.
Q. Why are some male turkeys aggressive?
It's not so much a territorial thing as a buildup of testosterone in their system. In rural areas, the birds still have a fear of people. In the suburbs, where they get no negative interaction from people, they can become aggressive. They see their reflection in cars, and they want to fight their reflection. They can chase people as well. If they exhibit any abnormal behaviors like that, our unit is the one that goes out and captures those birds.
Q. Do the flocks have a pecking order?
There's usually one or two dominant males, and the others will be subordinate.
Q. Is it OK for people to feed turkeys?
We don't recommend it. Turkeys can find natural food on their own. We don't recommend any activity that conditions the birds to lose their fear of people.
Q. Turkeys have a reputation for being a bit dumb. Is it justified?
I don't think it is a question of their being smart or stupid; they're just very careful about new things in their surroundings. For example, if you see them coming across a garden hose stretched across your back yard for the first time, they might stare at it or look at it cock-eyed. They might walk all the way around it rather than just step over it. People may look at that and say that's stupid, but I call it being wary.
Coming in two weeks: Results of the Birdy 30 Challenge.
Historically inaccurate, if not an outright lie!
There has ALWAYS been turkeys in NJ!
I got me a pet in my penthouse,
but he don’t bother me,
he aint no poodle or pony,
just a little old Wild turkey.
Q. Can wild turkeys fly?
They do in Texas.
Over the past few years I’ve noticed more and more wildlife closer to towns and cities in this region. The turkeys have been congregating on a grassy spot on the grounds of a local hospital and some neighborhoods have reportedly seen black bears and deer. I don’t know if that’s a consequence of “urban sprawl” but it seems that these critters have been coming around frequently more recently since a new housing development was built near me about 4 years ago.
They think it might be a snake. Turkeys have a technique where a flock will "guide" a snake out of their territory.
IIRC Ben Franklin thought it should be the national bird. His opinion was that the bald eagle was basically a vulture and had a disreputable character while the turkey was both intelligent and good eating.
We’ve always had wild turkeys in the woods around our home here in South Jersey.
One spring day last year, a whole group of them walked together right out of the woods and very casually down the middle of the street, as if they were on a family outing around the neighborhood.
They’re hanging out in Tijeras New Mexico!
My Father killed a wild tom turkey just before Christmas 1962.
We had it for Christmas dinner and it was really good. Only a few years later there were none left in this county in the Florida Panhandle.
A few years back the Game and fish commission reintroduced them and protected them for several years. They are now plentiful again.
“Is the turkey population increasing in New Jersey?”
Not as fast as in New York.
Tasty?
Q. Are turkeys a fish?
You must have been the Valedictorian.
Q. Can turkeys fly?
Only if a chicken shows them how.
They were wiped out by baited shotgun traps in the 1900s. A whole flock could be taken in one shot.
“Is the turkey population increasing in New Jersey?”
Yes, especially in Trenton, whenever the Assembly and Senate are in session.
I’ve seen them and there were times I almost took out a flock using my Hyundai. B-)
I had a couple of stray toms that would fly up on my deck and eat out of the bird feeder.
I laid in wait and gave them the poltergeist scare of their life. Sliding door partly open and waiting to catch them in flight.
They fall like a rock when the screaming boogie man is 6ft away and charging.
I didn’t have the heart to shoot them. They had already been outcast from the tribe. Never saw them again.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.