Wild Turkey

      The Wild Turkey, also known as, Meleagris Gallopavo, is a relatively large and heavy bird. When it comes to flight, having a wingspan as wide as the average height of a 13 year old boy might seem like an advantage, but due to their heavy weight Wild Turkeys spend most of their time on the ground foraging on food. Their diet consists of nuts, seeds, fruit, plant matter, and other things, such as salamanders and even snails. Wild Turkeys can be found almost anywhere in the U.S. thriving year-round in open forests. They can also be found in Mexico and southern Canada. During their mating season male turkeys make gobbling sounds to attract possible mates and to warn off competition with other males. Providing no parental care, male turkeys spend most of their time trying to find their next mate instead of staying with a single female helping and caring for their future hatchlings ( Bad Fathers!). Therefore, being left helpless and alone, females are left with the babysitting all to themselves. Although managing to successfully nurture up to 17 hatchlings up to adulthood is never easy, especially for single mothers, Wild Turkeys are doing a great job at keeping their numbers high. With a global breeding population of 7.8 million and a rating of  7 out of 20 in the Continental Concern Score , Wild Turkeys are of least concern.