What yelps, purrs, cackles putts, kee-kees, and gobbles? Yes, your teenagers might do all of these things, but we’re talking turkey. Turkeys yelp to call their children, while lost youngsters kee-kee piteously. Like cats, turkeys purr when they’re content. In early spring toms gobble and strut to attract hens.
After mating, the hen scratches a nest under a big pine or in a brush pile, laying one speckled egg a day until she has a clutch of ten to twelve. She’ll incubate them alone for nearly a month. Chicks are out of the nest and following mom within 24 hours of hatching.
The ancestors of our supermarket turkeys hail from Mexico, where they were domesticated by the Aztecs. Conquistadors brought them to Spain, and soon the birds were popular across Europe. The pilgrims got their domestic turkeys from Britain.
There are five types of wild turkeys in the United States. In the Southwest, Merriam’s turkey is the most common, thriving in the ponderosa pine forests along the Mogollon Rim and in Arizona’s White Mountains. Gould’s Turkey was reintroduced in the 1980s to the Huachuca Mountains, where it is gradually making a comeback.
The ancient southwestern Pueblo people raised turkeys in pens, herded them, and even doctored injured birds. Genetic analysis shows that their birds came from the East rather than the powerful civilizations of Mexico. They tried to domesticate the Merriam’s turkey, but for some reason it didn’t work. Maybe it takes an independent-minded bird to survive in the rugged Southwest.
Earth Notes is produced by KNAU and the Sustainable Communities Program at Northern Arizona University.
