Wild Turkey
(Meleagris gallopavo)

Overview

Summary

© Marcel Gahbauer
For additional photos and vocalizations, visit Dendroica. (Link opens in a new window.)

Although native to southern Ontario and southern Quebec, the Wild Turkey was extirpated in the early 1900s. The species was re-introduced in the 1980s and now occupies an expanded breeding range that reaches eastern Ontario, southern Quebec and the southern-most parts of the four western provinces. Results from the Breeding Bird Survey indicate that populations have increased markedly since about 1970. A prized game bird for human consumption, the species is hunted over most of its range.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe
• Breeding Bird Survey (BBS): Relative Abundance and Breeding Distribution (1993-2012)
• Wild Turkey Breeding Range in Ontario

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

Over-hunting of Wild Turkey depressed the population to critical lows in the early 20th century (McRoberts et al. 2014). This species has responded well to the work of game managers to increase and maintain abundance through stocking and transplanting; the population is expanding rapidly.

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Bowman, J. 2007. Wild Turkey. pp. 132-133 in: Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario, 2001-2005. Cadman, M.D., D.A. Sutherland, G.G. Beck, D. Lepage and A.R. Couturier, Eds. Bird Studies Canada, Environment Canada, Ontario Field Ornithologists, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and Ontario Nature, Toronto, Ontario.
• McRoberts, J.T., M.C. Wallace and S.W. Eaton. 2014. Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. McRoberts, J.T., M.C. Wallace and S.W. Eaton. 2014. Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)