They relish blueberries, dogwood fruits, wild grapes, blackberries and sumac seeds. Forest herbs, such as fiddleheads and violets provide spring forage. In the summer grasses, sedges, leaves, and seeds become abundant and are eaten extensively. In the winter they feed on residual fruits, evergreen fern leaflets, the dried spore stalks of sensitive fern, and clubmoss spores. Oak acorns are a staple food item year round.
Wild turkeys stay in flocks and favor mature deciduous and mixed woodlands.
However their preferences, as well as flock structure, change with the seasons. In the spring the flocks break up into smaller groups of the same sex, and tend to favor forest edges and openings. One male generally dominates the male groups, although solitary males may also be found. Mating displays are the preoccupation of mature males during the spring. He draws attention to himself by gobbling and strutting with erect plumage and tail, dragging his wings and uttering low-pitched 'chumps' or hums, known as the 'pulmonic puff'.