Episode Number
83
Episode Show Notes / Description
Wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo).
America’s favorite gamebird.
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The following Cornell Lab | Macaulay Library recordings were used in this episode:
- Wild turkey gobble by Gregory Budney (ML505685)
- Wild turkey cluck by Gregory Budney (ML505685)
- Wild turkey purring by Andrea L. Priori (ML505688)
- Wild turkey various calls by Geoffrey A. Keller (ML505687)
Sources and more:
- https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wild_Turkey
- https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/wild-turkey
- Dobson, C., Kassenbaum, D., Oehmke, D., & Misewicz, M. (2023). Field guide to hotspots and birds in Illinois. Scissortail LLC.
- Godfrey, M. A., & Kaufman, Kenn. (Directors). (2004). National Audubon Society videoguide to the birds of North America [Video recording]. In Audubon videoguide to 505 birds of North America DVD I & DVD II (Fullscreen.). Godfrey-Stadin Productions.
- Peterson, R. T., & Peterson, V. M. (1980). A field guide to the birds: A completely new guide to all the birds of eastern and central North America (Fourth edition, completely revised and enlarged.). Houghton Mifflin Company.
- Sibley, D. (2016). Sibley birds East: Field guide to birds of eastern North America (2nd ed.). Alfred A. Knopf.
Transcript
This is Brodie with Illinois Extension and I’m here with a new “voice of the wild”
There’s no mystery to this bird’s call, the only thing it could possibly be confused with is the call of a farm turkey, which are the domesticated descendants of north america’s most popular game bird; the wild turkey.
While the males gobble is an easy ID in spring and summer, the contented purring sound is less well known, as are their clucks. The popularity of the turkey as game nearly did them in; they were hunted to near extinction through the 18 and 19 hundreds but through rigorous protections and a successful relocation program, have repopulated through most of their former range. The turkey is a big bird and large males are among the heaviest flying birds in the world. Look for turkeys in the morning, foraging field edges or forest clearings in woods with lots of nut bearing oaks and hickories. Here’s the wild turkey again.
Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW
There’s no mystery to this bird’s call, the only thing it could possibly be confused with is the call of a farm turkey, which are the domesticated descendants of north america’s most popular game bird; the wild turkey.
While the males gobble is an easy ID in spring and summer, the contented purring sound is less well known, as are their clucks. The popularity of the turkey as game nearly did them in; they were hunted to near extinction through the 18 and 19 hundreds but through rigorous protections and a successful relocation program, have repopulated through most of their former range. The turkey is a big bird and large males are among the heaviest flying birds in the world. Look for turkeys in the morning, foraging field edges or forest clearings in woods with lots of nut bearing oaks and hickories. Here’s the wild turkey again.
Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW