Owner Comments:
This next modern dinosaur gets an unfair bad rap regarding its intelligence due to the diminished intellect of its domesticated descendent. With this coin, I’d like to rehabilitate the image of the Wild Turkey, species name Meleagris gallopavo
Wild Turkeys are large birds with blackish feathers which have a coppery sheen in males, reddish yellow to greyish green legs and bald heads that can range in color from red to almost black. There is strong sexual dimorphism among Wild Turkeys, with males being larger, more iridescent in coloring, and having wattles on the head and an additional growth over the nose called a snood. Males are typically 39-49 inches long and weigh from 11 to 24 pounds while females are 30 to 37 inches long and weigh from 5.5 to 11.9 pounds. Unlike domestic turkeys, Wild Turkeys are fully capable of flight, as the coin shows, and are strong fliers when the need arises, though they do most of their moving by walking.
As far as habitat goes, Wild Turkeys prefer forests with mixed hardwood and conifer trees and many openings such as pastures, clearings and fields. Wild Turkeys are common in the Eastern United States and the American Midwest, but they also rarely range farther west and into parts of Canada and Mexico where suitable habitat is located. Wild Turkeys are omnivores who find their meals through foraging. Though they are omnivores, most of a Wild Turkey’s diet is plant material including leaves, seeds, grains, berries, buds, grass blades, roots and bulbs. Animals taken by Wild Turkeys are mostly invertebrates such as insects, arachnids and worms but small amphibians and small reptiles are rarely taken as well.
Unlike most other theropods, Wild Turkeys are far from monogamous. Instead, they are polygynous with one male mating with several females. Breeding happens in the spring, with males making elaborate displays and gobbling to attract as many females as they can. Wild turkeys are ground nesters who excavate a shallow depression which they line with grasses and other plant materials that are located under shrubs or in tall grass when possible. Once the mating is done, so is the male. Incubation of the 10 to 14 eggs produced is left solely to the females. After 25-31 days, the eggs hatch. Wild Turkeys are precocial and they walk and leave the nest shortly after birth. While the female looks after them and incubates them at night, the young are essentially able to fend for themselves almost immediately. They forage for their own food and feed themselves. Young Wild Turkeys are able to fly in short bursts at between 1 and 2 weeks of age, but they take several more months to refine their flying ability and fully mature. Wild Turkeys live for an average of 10 years.
As far as predators go, young and eggs are preyed upon by raccoons, skunks, foxes, several species snakes and rodents. Adults have far fewer predators given their large size and, as I wanted to mention earlier, their intelligence. Most adult male Wild Turkeys only face real threats from two animals: Humans and Golden Eagles. For adult females, the Great Horned Owl must be added to this list. While other predators, including Grey Wolves, Red Foxes, Bobcats and Coyotes will try to take Wild Turkeys, these mammals only rarely able to succeed. This is because the Wild Turkey is usually able to outsmart these mammalian carnivores and evade them. Typically, Wild Turkey are usually able to detect these predatory mammals before the threat is aware that they’ve been spotted. The Wild Turkey will then either evade the predator by use of camouflage or hiding or simply flying up to a spot that is too high for the predator to access. In instances that these strategies do not work, Wild Turkeys will aggressively fight the predator off.
In a fight with one of the mammals listed, the Wild Turkey usually comes out the winner as they can be extremely aggressive in self-defense. However, Humans, Golden Eagles and Great Horned Owls all have the Wild Turkey out-brained and Humans and Golden Eagles are far more aggressive than the Wild Turkey, so these contests are more likely to end fatally for the Wild Turkey. As far as Great Horned Owls and Golden Eagles are concerned, they are actually the biggest threats to an adult Wild Turkeys as the Wild Turkey has to actually sight the predator from the air before it begins its assault, which is less likely for the ground dwelling Wild Turkey to accomplish in time, increasing the element of surprise. Also, moving to a higher spot does not work against these aerial predatory theropods. Humans, however, are evaded more often than you might think. I’ve read many researchers who are familiar with Wild Turkeys emphasize how intelligent and crafty they actually are and how successful they are at spotting and evading human hunters. And Wild Turkeys will fight for their lives against humans just as they do against the other mammals who attempt to prey on them. According to my research, turkey hunters go home empty handed far more often than hunters of other animals, such as deer.
I hope that this coin has shown that the Wild Turkey is an amazing modern dinosaur that does not deserve the reputation for being stupid that it has (if you want to experience a stupid animal, check out the koala. You’ll see how much damage having a smooth brain and living entirely on a nutrient poor, poisonous plant does.) and one that is an amazing and unique member of North America’s ecosystem. Also, if Benjamin Franklin had his way, the Wild Turkey would have been the United States’ national dinosaur. Franklin found the intelligent and resourceful Wild Turkey far more noble than the Bald Eagle, who is a notorious kleptoparasite. From a human’s perspective, Franklin was probably correct in his assessment but human values should not be applied to nature. Both the Wild Turkey and the Bald Eagle are just doing what they evolved to do in order to survive in their very different ecological niches, and both are valuable members of their respective ecosystems.