The Town Turkey

Aline Alexander
​Newman
Wildlife Truth Teller  

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One warm, August day in 2020, Mark Eddy, of Old Forge, New York, spotted two wild turkeys in his backyard. Hmm, thought Eddy. Whitetail deer wander all around this Adirondack village. But turkeys? They're rare. Still, this pair of gobblers began showing up almost every day, twice a day.

In September, one turkey disappeared. Then the snow came. Aware that many turkeys perish in the harsh, Adirondack winters, Eddy decided to feed his remaining feathered friend. First, he learned to make two turkey sounds with his mouth--a rolling "brrrp" sound called a purr that he uses to calm the turkey and a "chip, chip" noise to call him to supper. It worked. "If I see him roosting in a tree in the morning and call him, he'll come down," Eddy says. "If he's across the street, he'll run over."

Commercial bird seed mix. Sunflower seeds. Cracked corn. Even live mealworms. The turkey loves them all. But talk about picky. "I put dried mealworms in his food once," says Eddy. "He focused one eye on them, looked sideways suspicious like, and walked away!"

The big bird trotted all over town, peering into movie theater doors, storefronts, and the school. He often turned up in the school's bus circle at dismissal time, amusing the kids. As his celebrity grew, one woman purchased a turkey costume that she parades around in for laughs.
           
Many people enjoy having a town turkey, but some don't. Perhaps they fear he'll scratch the paint on their cars when he perches on them. Or maybe they dislike him wandering into the road and stopping traffic, sometimes in both directions.

Now that spring is here, the turkey doesn't come around as much. When he does appear, he's likely to be strutting about fanning his tail. Female turkeys (hens) occasionally do that, but it's usually done by male birds (Toms) hoping to attract a female.

Which begs another question. Is the town turkey male or female? Some fans nicknamed it Henrietta Thomasina, in an attempt to cover both bases. However, Eddy now believes the turkey is a young male (jake). Why? "When he's excited or acting aggressive, his head turns bright blue," Eddy says. Only males do that. Not yet old enough to grow a beard from his chest, this young jake is old enough to find a mate. Once he does, the town turkey won't be alone anymore.

The town turkey surveying its domain. Photo courtesy of Mark Eddy.

Mistaking his own reflection for a female turkey, the excited male fans his tail to a truck bumper. Notice how his head has turned blue. Photo courtesy of Matt Newman

The town turkey's three-toed tracks are easy to spot in the snow. Photo courtesy of Mark Eddy

As darkness falls, the town turkey takes to his roosting spot high in a tree. Photo courtesy of Matt Newman.

The snood, blue face, and chest beard mark this turkey as a male.

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​Aline Alexander Newman is a lifelong animal lover who has written more than 50 magazine stories about animals from cats and dogs to tortoises and whales. Her love of orangutans is reflected in her popular book, Ape Escapes! and More True Stories of Animals Behaving Badly (National Geographic Kids Chapters). 

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