Food
Green plant material, seeds of grass and weeds, berries, fruit and some insects, including grasshoppers, beetles and ants.
Voice
Male, a loud , far-carrying gobbling, usually uttered during the breeding season. A sharp 'keow, keow' in contact. Yelps, croaks, clucks, hisses and trills.
Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) [XC786182]
by David Tattersley from Upper Moreland Township (near Bryn Athyn), Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States (call)
Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) [XC465131]
by Thomas Paine from Lake City, Columbia County, Florida, United States (song, gobble)
Nest
A scrape in the ground, lined with grass and leaves, under the cover of a shrub.
Eggs (Guide)
8 - 15; cream, spotted with red-brown and lilac. Incubation: by female. The eggs are covered when the female leaves the nest.
Subspecies
Birds of north-western Mexico sometimes awarded separate subspecies, onusta.
Probably one (gallopavo) in Australia (from domestic stock).
The following 6 subspecies are recognised:
silvestris Vieillot, 1817 - Eastern North America, north to southern Ontario, west to Great Plains, and southern into Texas and northern Florida.
osceola Scott, 1890 - Florida (USA).
intermedia Sennett, 1879 - Kansas southern into Mexico. Also translocated to areas west of historical range including California, Oregon and Washington.
merriami Nelson, 1900 - Western Great Plains and Rocky Mts. Also translocated to areas west of historical range including Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
mexicana Gould, 1856 - Mexico, in mountains west of Central Plateau.
gallopavo Linnaeus, 1758 - Mexico, from Veracruz west to Jalisco, and south to Guerrero.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet