Field guide
A large ground bird that forages in flocks and roosts in trees.
Shared features
Long legs, bare head and dark iridescent body; males often have a prominent snood, beard and fan tail.
Male
The tom is usually larger, with more iridescent plumage, a bright bare head, prominent snood, leg spurs and often a beard. A fanned tail signals display, not a permanent shape; young males can be less striking.
Female
The hen is smaller and browner, with a less colorful head and usually no obvious snood or spurs. Some hens have a beard, so that feature alone does not establish sex.
Morning
At dawn, listen near wooded roosts before birds move to field edges to feed.
Afternoon
During the afternoon, look along shaded woodland edges, open woods and dusting sites.
Evening
Before dusk, watch travel routes back toward large roost trees.
Males gobble, especially in spring; hens make clucks, yelps and purrs.
Nervous calls
Wild turkey adults and juveniles
Adult and juvenile wild turkeys call after the flock is disturbed; foraging sounds are also present.
Jonathon Jongsma · Recording source
Gobble · Male
Male wild turkey
A short gobble from a male recorded in Rocky Mountain National Park.
J. Job / National Park Service · Recording source
Nervous hen calls · Female
Female wild turkey
The recorder watched this female calling nervously as she moved away along a trail.
Jonathon Jongsma · Recording source
Clucks and flock calls
Wild turkey flock
A few clucks are followed by other flock calls and a gobble; the source does not verify the sex of each caller.
peliken · Recording source
Clucks and purrs
Wild turkey
The observer reports repeated clucks with quieter purrs between them; individual calls are not isolated in this field recording.
annegp · Recording source
Natural history source: Read the source
Bag limits
Bag and possession summaries.
- -A hunter may kill 3 wild turkeys per year: 2 in the spring and 1 in certain zones in the fall.
- -Spring season: Hunters may kill 2 wild turkeys. The first may be killed in zones 2 to 13, 15, 26 and 27 and the second, in zones 3 to 11, 26 & 27. A hunter may kill both turkeys during the same half-day if they are hunting in a zone where a second turkey may be hunted.
- -Fall season: Hunters may kill 1 turkey, bearded or not, in zones 3 to 11.