Memories of a Wild Turkey

Wild turkeys are frequently seen in southwestern Colorado especially during the fall months. In the winter, an occasional group of wild turkeys may be seen but more times than not, all we see is their footprints left behind in the snow.

The winter of 2007/2008 was very different for southwestern Colorado. We received more than average snowfall that stayed on the ground from December to late March. This was very unusual.

Deep snow for that length of time presents a hazard for many wildlife species including wild turkeys. These animals just can't get around in deep snow.

One morning, in early December, I looked out at my birdfeeder and there was a lone female wild turkey picking seeds off the snow. We had 2-3 feet of snow at that time and wild turkeys will visit birdfeeders but they prefer to stay in the woods and search for food. This poor bird was obviously just trying to survive.

Once she noticed me watching her, she scurried back into the trees and hid. They're shy birds and don't like humans watching them.

The next morning, the same thing happened.

On the news, the Colorado Department of Wildlife (CDOW) was asking for volunteers to help feed some stranded elk herds stuck in the deep snow. Normally, CDOW advises against feeding wildlife, however, the elk herds are money for CDOW as each fall hunters come to Colorado to purchase licenses to kill elk. If food wasn't brought out to these stranded herds, then they'd die. I figured that if the CDOW was feeding wildlife, so can I.

At the same time, some of my neighbnors had mentioned that they were feeding wild turkeys. One friend was feeding eight birds, and another was feeding three. I had just the one.

Well, I felt it was my duty to help this poor bird out so I did some research and found out that their main food staple is acorns. The acorns were buried deep under the snow and this female wild turkey couldn't get to them. Wild turkeys also like whole kernel corn. My birdfeeder was filled with sunflower seeds and she was heartily eating them, but the next time I went shopping I picked up a bag of whole kernel corn.

A wild turkey is a creature of habit, just like us, and I noticed a pattern with this bird. Every morning, after my husband left for work, she would come from the other side of the garage, step down onto our snow-blown driveway, run across it, then scurry up this five-foot snow mound into the yard and to the birdfeeder. She would stay for about an hour or so picking one seed at a time off the snow.

After I purchased a bag of whole kernel corn, I would wait until my husband went out to the car, then I would open the window and throw a handful or two of corn out under the birdfeeder for her. I would then stand back from the window and watch her come bounding out of the woods for her breakfast.

Wild turkeys are very shy birds and if she saw me watching her, she'd run behind a tree and hide. Sometimes she'd stick her long neck from behind the tree out to see if I was still looking. It was comical and I would have to give in and walk away from the window.

I soon realized that she came a second time, around 2:30 in the afternoon to get a meal. I began throwing seed out around 2 pm for her. This went on every day for three months.

Wild turkeys can fly short distances, enough to get onto a tree branch or onto a deck. This wild turkey would occasionally fly onto my deck and from there, she'd fly up onto my roof. I'd hear her walking around up there and it was funny to think of a turkey walking on top of my roof! Of course, some of my neighbors had eight of them on their roof! None of us have any wild turkey pictures of them on the roof because if the birds saw us outside, they'd take off.

A wild turkey sleeps in a tree at night, away from predators such as bobcat, mountain lion, fox, and coyote. This turkey was roosting in a tree near our garage where she could easily jump down and run across our driveway to the birdfeeder.

The first photo is the female wild turkey on my deck. The second photo shows the two female wild turkeys at my feeder. That's because in early March, a second wild turkey joined "my" turkey. I'm not sure which turkey is the one I'd been feeding for three months because as you can see, they look alike. The two turkeys came to my birdfeeder for just a few days before moving on. I was glad to do my part in helping a stranded wild turkey during that winter.