Birdr
  • Today
  • Life List
  • Community
Sign in
  • Today
  • Life List
  • Map
  • Trip Planner
  • Community
  • Field Guide
  • Skills
  • Gear Guides
  • Merch
Sign in
Made for birdrs, by birdrs  ·  Birdr ·  v0.1
Field GuideBlogAboutGear GuidesTrip PlannerCommunityBirdr ProPrivacy PolicyTermsSupport
Back to Field Guide
Wild Turkey

Wild Turkey

Meleagris gallopavo

Audubon Illustration

Audubon illustration of Wild Turkey

John James Audubon, Birds of America (1827-1838). Public domain.

Range & Recent Observations

Wild Turkeyis a year-round resident and doesn't follow a migration flyway. See the Range tab for where it lives.

Last Spotted Near You

View on eBirdWikipedia

About the Wild Turkey

The wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is an upland game bird native to North America, one of two extant species of turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey (M. g. domesticus), which was originally derived from a southern Mexican subspecies of wild turkey (not the related ocellated turkey).

Source: Wikipedia

Classification

Scientific name
Meleagris gallopavo
Family
Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies
Order
Galliformes

Similar species

Other members of the pheasants, grouse, and allies family recorded in North America — a useful place to start if you are not certain of your identification.

  • Black Francolin Francolinus francolinus
  • Blue-breasted Quail Synoicus chinensis
  • Brown Quail Synoicus ypsilophorus
  • Chukar Alectoris chukar
  • Common Quail Coturnix coturnix
  • Dusky Grouse Dendragapus obscurus
  • Erckel's Spurfowl Pternistis erckelii
  • Golden Pheasant Chrysolophus pictus
  • Gray Francolin Ortygornis pondicerianus
  • Gray Partridge Perdix perdix
  • Gray Peacock-Pheasant Polyplectron bicalcaratum
  • Greater Prairie-Chicken Tympanuchus cupido

Know when the Wild Turkey turns up near you

Add it to your watchlist and draw an alert zone around the places you actually bird. Birdr checks eBird reports and tells you when one is seen inside it.

How rare bird alerts work →

Gear for spotting Wild Turkey

Optics

Best Binoculars for Beginners

You don't need to spend a fortune. These four pairs will get you birding confidently on day one.

8 min readRead guide
Cameras

Cameras for Bird Photography

From phone adapters to dedicated rigs, here's what actually works for capturing birds in the field.

12 min readRead guide
Optics

Spotting Scopes for Distance Birding

Essential for shorebirds, raptors, and anything too far for binoculars. Our tested picks.

9 min readRead guide