Talk:Wild turkey

message: Wild baby Turkeys do not take flight in the sense that they are capable flyers. Any reputable hunting site gives good information on how to track a turkey in "flight", "glide", or "wing assisted jump" some even adapted the name "Turkey arch" to describe what it is they are doing. The average turkey fly at speeds of 55mph for around 10 seconds, to get about half mile distance with glide time, most of the energy was from the push of their legs, and when they "fly" to their        tree roost; they stand althogh to the tre and merely jump up to the rooster gobbles--207.244.138.36 (talk) 17:52, 14 April 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: Flight

message: The map seems to be quite off.  I've seen wild turkeys all over Southern Quebec and Ontario.  Prince Edward County, Hastings County in Ontario, and Pontiac in Quebec.  These are not one offs either, but repetitive sightings.  These are rural areas, and since I am seeing them while simply driving around, one would think that areas which are free from humans (ie where there are not roads) might show even higher concentrations of wild turkeys.
Does anyone know where the distribution map comes from?
I did find this:
http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/wildlife/wildspace/life.cfm?ID=WITU&Page=AtlasMap&Lang=
It does indicate breeding in Ontario.
Also, this:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/03/11/wild-turkeys.html
So, it seems the birds had some help.  Regardless of help or not, they're here now -- and doing great.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.70.111.174 (talk) 13:08, 15 February 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: In fact there is more comment further down the talk page also referring to the inaccuracy of the map. Since it's clearly not correct, it's pointless, so I have deleted it. Someone who is more familiar with North American birds can maybe replace it (I'm British with no more than a general interest in the subject).Newburyjohn (talk) 12:20, 9 November 2023 (UTC)
replies: text:  As there has been no discussion or consensus reached on this page to remove the distribution map, I have restored it. Note that the recent discussion at the bottom of the page was solely about whether the range of the Wild Turkey extends all the way to the tip of southern Florida, which I believe remains uncertain. The discussion did not refer to any other possible inaccuracies in the map. Please explain why you think the map is inaccurate and needs to be removed. Donald Albury 18:06, 9 November 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: The map appears to be original research and does not indicate the actual distribiution of the bird. Rather than your saying "what's the justification for deleting it" I'd say "what's the justification for including it". If you Google "wild turkeys canada" you will find many sources confirming that they exist. As a Brit I'm not qaualified to know which of these sources are considered reliable, but it's patently nonsense to suggest the bird is not extant in Canada, quite apart from my personal observations. The map shows the distribution does not include anywhere in Canada so is clearly inaccurate and therefore, I suggest, useless. IMO the Wikipedia model in general doesn't work because anyone (including me) can edit it to suit their personal agenda; therefore I'm not going to waste my time getting into an edit war with you or anyone else.Newburyjohn (talk) 23:48, 10 November 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Please note that, per :Wikipedia:No original research#Original images,  Do you have a suggestion for a better map? I see a bunch of maps here, but it looks like all of them are under copyright, so we can't use them. I will also note that they differ in many details, including the issue recently raised here, whether the range of the Wild Turkey includes southernmost Florida. Most of those maps also show turkeys in Canada only in the southernmost part of Ontario, as does the current map in the article. Do you see any other details of the map in the article that are not supported by at least some of the linked maps? Donald Albury 01:12, 11 November 2023 (UTC)
thread_title: Distribution map

message: I don't know which image the above discussion is referencing, but the photo labeled "Male mating display" also currently appears as the lead image on the Domesticated turkey page.   It should be removed from one of these articles, depending on which type of turkey it actually is.  I'm not a turkey expert so I don't know. El Mariachi (talk) 02:52, 7 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Fine, I'll remove it from this page since it's the lead image on Domesticated Turkey and only a supplementary one here.  I'm guessing turkey experts wouldn't let a picture of a wild turkey stand as the lead image on the wrong page. El Mariachi (talk) 04:46, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  image conflict 

message: I removed an image titled for male and female Wild Turkey, since it appears to show two males, and they are apparently domestic or escaped birds, since one is white, and the other appears to be of the widely introduced SW form merriami. jimfbleak 07:18, 30 Nov 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: more images

message: I can kinda read into it that "harvest" is "hunting" though it kinda also makes me think there are "wild turkey farms", which is an oxymoron, which leads me back to "harvest means hunting", though sometimes I'd rather not have to be Sherlock Holmes to understand an encyclopedia.  So anyway.  Are all the states using lotteries to limit the taking of WT's, or just some of them? And isn't a hunting-license lottery rather more common than a come-and-get-it approach? Blair P. Houghton 20:17, 7 Jan 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Harvest 

message: This articel states that Ben's preference for the turkey was satire, however the bald eagle repeats it as being true. Not actually knowing which, I just added the contradict tag. 68.39.174.238 20:16, 26 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Did some looking and according to the us dept of veterans affairs Franklin wanted the turkey as the national bird.  Don't trust them either though, so I just copied the Franklin article into this letter, pointed out a few things about, and will let the reader decide.  The letter is real, the interpretation varies. Jerdwyer
As for Franklin's attitude, perhaps it should be described as facetious rather than satirical, but no doubt it was clever, deadpan, amusing, and definitively Franklinesque. As for what he wanted, he got it: notoriety.
But speaking of contradiction, hasn't anybody spotted it in the opening sentences? "The Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is native to North America and is the heaviest member of the Galliformes. It is one of two species of turkey, the other being the Ocellated Turkey, found in Central and South America. Adult Wild Turkeys have a small, featherless, reddish head...."
Aren't ocellated turkeys (Agriocharis ocellata, according to /Random House Unabridged/) wild? Aren't they turkeys?
(Part of the problem, perhaps, comes from confusing common nouns with proper nouns. We don't capitalize "laughing hyenas" or "raving lunatics". Why capitalize wild turkeys?)
Every wild turkey, I contend, is a wild turkey, regardless of species. Granted, that when referring to wild turkeys, we aren't usually referring to domestic turkeys which have abandoned their festive vocations for the sake of longevity, and that in this article we are using "wild turkey" as a vulgar name for species known to the cognoscenti in glorious Latin, but discussing wild turkeys as if there were one species, then stating that there are two species, is not amusing. Benjamin F. would not approve. The article ought to be changed (split, disambiguated, redirected -- I'm not sure what) to discriminate the species commonly, or not so commonly, granted the exalted title of "turkey." Unfree (talk) 09:30, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

text: Birds, as a taxonomic group, are unusual in that ornithologists have created a list of official English common names for all species. {see Wikipedia:WikiProject Tree of life#Article titles and Wikipedia:Naming conventions (fauna)) That is why the common names of living bird species are fully capitalized in Wikipedia, while the common names of all other (animal) species should be capitalized only on the first word of the name. That also means that we use the English common name for the titles of articles about living bird species. -- Donald Albury 12:27, 5 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Contradiction 

message: Can anyone explain what Franklin means by "the Cincinnati of America"???  It looks like a vandalism of "Citizens of America", but it exists in the sources too!  What the heck does that mean?  --Bmk 00:38, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I think refers to Cincinnatus, probably using "Cincinnati", the plural, as a a term for  good citizens. jimfbleak 06:22, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Huh - could be so.  I've never run into that term before.  Thanks!   --Bmk 07:01, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: See Society of the Cincinnati. -- Donald Albury(Talk) 22:52, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Cincinnati? 

message: I think I read once that Coronado brought the turkey to this hemisphere...true? 69.0.52.99 17:25, 26 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: There's a nice summary of the turkey's origins here. -- Donald Albury 18:50, 26 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Is the wild turkey really American? 

message: I am Including a quote from New Mexico Department of Game and Fish “Long-Range Plan for the Management of Wild Turkey in New Mexico 2001-2005” by Larry Kamees, Wildlife Specialist, Division of Wildlife, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Santa Fe, NM, October 2002.
New Mexico is home to three of the five currently recognized North American subspecies of wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). The Merriam’s turkey (M. g. merriami) is typically associated with areas of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa). The Rio Grande turkey (M. g. intermedia) principally occupies riparian areas in the northeast, central, and south-central portions of the state. The Gould’s turkey (M. g. mexicana) is confined to the woodland-savanna habitat in the Peloncillo and Animas Mountains of southwest New Mexico. The Gould’s turkey is a state-listed endangered species due to the vulnerability of small and localized populations to several identified threats.  63.18.126.181 07:00, 16 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  New Mexico Range for Rio Grande and Merriam's not included 

message: There isn't a nominate species of Wild Turkey? Frankyboy5 03:06, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: No Nominate Subspecies?

message: There are large populations of Wild Turkey in the mountains of New Zealand.  Many hunting websites claim they are so plentiful in New Zealand that they are a big attraction for hunting tourists.  Are there Turkeys gone wild anywhere else in the world?  —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.158.177.163 (talk) 21:29, August 22, 2007 (UTC) 
:There are small populations on some Australian islands, like King Island, but they are not very plentiful. Frickeg 02:55, 1 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  New Zealand Wild Turkey 

message: Turkey calls should remain a separate article.  I'm removing the 7 month old suggestion of a merger that hasn't been taken up.  Gene Nygaard (talk) 05:46, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Merger suggestion

message: In the trivia section, it says that female turkeys can reproduce asexually without a tom. The source appears ligitimate in all except for the fact that it is not loading. Can anyone confirm this? Rufous-crowned Sparrow (talk) 18:35, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Ah, but there are other links supporting parthenogenesis in turkeys. I'll add them to the article. -- Donald Albury 13:07, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

text: On second thought, the references probably refer to domesticated turkeys, so I deleted the trivia item until someone finds a source that says wild turkeys exhibit parthenogenesis. -- Donald Albury 13:11, 17 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Asexual Turkeys??? 

message: We've had a female wandering around alone in our woods for the past 5 weeks up here in northwest NJ.  We live by a lake and she wanders from house to house foraging in the leaves, and she's not afraid of us, she keeps her distance, though.  Is this normal for her to be alone?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kfboys (talk • contribs) 11:55, 10 May 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I came here to the talk page wondering about "The Rio Grande turkey is gregarious." All of the other specie of turkey are solitary animals?  The statement about the Rio Grande turkey is also not supported by a citation and I'm wondering if it's always true. --Marc Kupper|talk 05:46, 14 March 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Lone female 

message: in the article on the Osceola turkey, why has somone changed the text about Osceola to "fighter" from "chief" of the Seminoles? 
Carlw4514 (talk) 19:29, 13 December 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Since I just changed this again, I'll explain. Osceola was never a "chief". Chiefs in the Seminoles were chosen from a particular clan lineage. Osceola was not eligible to be a chief. He was a charismatic and brave leader, and a number of Seminoles followed him in war, but that did not make him a chief. -- Donald Albury 12:23, 24 November 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Osceola 

message: I think I read the article carefully enough to say that it's very odd that not a word is in there about why this bird is named "turkey" in  English. Am I wrong? Happy Thanksgiving anyway! SergeWoodzing (talk) 12:06, 24 November 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Found it under Turkey (bird). SergeWoodzing (talk) 12:11, 24 November 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Name??? 

message: Missouri and Illinois are rapidly having a growing wild turkey population as close to White-tailed deer.--74.34.81.105 (talk) 15:51, 14 April 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Wild Boom state

message: The accuracy of the distribution map, , has already been questioned on this page. Addition questions about the accuracy on a reddit thread here, . Like so many other maps used on Wikipedia this one provides no sources. The source field simply says "Own work". This would be unacceptable for the text of an article on Wikipedia. It should be unacceptable for maps like this too. Pfly (talk) 08:22, 30 November 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Accuracy of map 

message: I would propose that wild turkey should be merged into domestic turkey because both are the same species- Meleagris gallopavo. Therefore, it is misleading to have two articles, which tends to purvey the claim the two are entirely two different things, which they are not by any means. 184.205.168.56 (talk) 06:05, 5 September 2019 (UTC)
replies: text: I disagree. Domestic Duck is separate from Mallard; Chicken is separate from Red Junglefowl. The domesticated versions are different from their wild ancestors. Dger (talk) 21:31, 7 September 2019 (UTC)
thread_title: Proposed Merge

message: I've seen wild turkeys in South Florida, which is not covered on the distribution map. Not once, mind you. Several times. OrganizationVII (talk) 20:07, 3 November 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: First, we can only included information that is verifiable from reliable sources. We cannot use original research, which includes reports of personal knowledge or experience. Second, South Florida is a fairly broad area. My interpretation of the map is that only extreme southern Florida, i.e., the Everglades Park area, is excluded from the range. This web page describes how turkeys were hunted out of Long Pine Key over a century ago, and the efforts made in recent years to re-introduce turkeys to the national park. From the info on that page, it appears that it is too early to conclude that a breeding population of wild turkeys has been established in the park. Donald Albury 13:21, 4 November 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: The map at the IUCN reference definitely shows a wider range than the map we have. - UtherSRG (talk) 17:44, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Distribution