Wild turkeys mate in the early spring. The male wild turkey gobbles to attract a female. He fans out his tail, struts around the female and lowers his wings and drags the tips on the ground. The male's gobble is so loud it can often be heard a mile away! The male mates with more than one female.

The female lays 8-15 buff-colored eggs in shallow depression on the ground that is hidden by brush, grass, vines or other vegetation. She incubates the eggs for 25-31 days. The chicks or poults are covered with down at birth and leave the nest shortly after hatching. The chicks are precocial and feed themselves shortly after birth. The male poults stay with their mother through the fall. Female poults remain with their mother until the next spring.

The wild turkey is an omnivore. It eats acorns, nuts, seeds, fruits, insects, buds fern fronds and salamanders. It usually forages on the ground in flocks, scratching in the earth to uncover food. The wild turkey feeds during the day. It roosts in trees at night.

The wild turkey is one of only two North American birds that has been domesticated. The other is the Muscovy duck. By the end of the 19th century, the wild turkey had been hunted almost to extinction in much of its original range. Today, the wild turkey has been re-established in much of its original range.

More Info: www.nhptv.org