Wild turkeys are some of the most striking American birds, largely because of their large size. Leaner and wilier than their domesticated relatives, wild turkeys suffered range reductions in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but since have recovered in many places to healthy populations. They feed on a large range of food items.
Dietary Classification
Wild turkeys are omnivores; that is, they feed on both plants and animals. A seasonal breakdown of the stomach contents of 620 wild turkeys cataloged in "American Wildlife & Plants: A Guide to Wildlife Food Habits" showed that plants were by far the dominant food source for the sampled birds throughout the year. A number of turkey dietary studies described in "The Wild Turkey: Biology & Management" suggest plant consumption proportions of 70 percent to 80 percent.
Plant Foods
Turkeys primarily target seeds, nuts and fruits, though they will consume leaves and other plant parts. Mast--the fruits of oaks, hickories and other trees--is prominent in turkey diets across much of the United States. According to "American Wildlife and Plants," oaks were the most important food source for wild turkeys in Pennsylvania, Virginia, the Atlantic Coastal Plain, Missouri and Texas, and were one of the top foods for Allegheny Mountain and Southwestern turkeys. Grapes are important autumn foods when available. But wild turkeys will munch on a large variety of vegetation. According to "The Wild Turkey," wild turkeys eat mainly mast, grains, forbs and invertebrates in the Mississippi River bottomlands of Louisiana and Mississippi. But when faced with extensive flooding of their habitat, the turkeys took to the trees and fed on sycamore and cottonwood flowers.
Animal Foods
While plants usually provide the bulk of a wild turkey's diet, the birds also forage for animals. Typical fare includes insects and arachnids, and even crayfish and salamanders. According to "The Wild Turkey," turkeys eat such diverse creatures as snails, cicadas, dark-eyed juncos and anoles, a type of lizard.
Young Turkeys
Turkeys under the age of four weeks, called poults, often eat insects such as grasshoppers and beetles, as well as plant material. Older, juvenile turkeys seem to mostly mirror the food preferences of adults, eating mainly plants but also some insects and other small creatures.
Feeding Behavior
Wild turkeys typically feed during the day, especially early in the morning and then again in the afternoon. They often scratch leaf litter, soil and snow to expose forage. As with the diversity of their diet, turkeys demonstrate many behaviors for feeding: They will cruise deer trails in deep snow to eat where the hoofed animals have pawed to bare ground, for example, and forage in tree canopies like the flower-eating turkeys of the Mississippi bottoms.
References
- "American Wildlife & Plants: A Guide to Wildlife Food Habits"; Martin et al.; 1951 (pgs. 107-108)
- "The Wild Turkey: Biology & Management"; James G. Dickson; 1992 (pgs. 66-79)
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