Wild Turkey Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesWild Turkey
Male
Very large game bird. Displaying males look almost spherical, with naked, red-and-blue head and fanned tail.
© Petra DeBruine / Macaulay LibraryMichigan, May 22, 2018Female
Very large game bird with long neck and legs. Females are dark brown overall with even darker barring.
© Charlotte Farrell / Macaulay LibraryVirginia, June 13, 2019Male
Very large game bird with small, unfeathered head covered with blue and red wattles. Displaying males give a throaty, jumbled call known as a "gobble."
© Tim Laman / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, April 18, 2009Female
Often roosts in trees. These heavy birds fly short distances to take cover. Takes flight with a flurry of loud, labored wingbeats.
© David Turko / Macaulay LibraryGeorgia, March 23, 2017Male
Male has a relatively small, bare head with blue skin and red wattles.
© Jeremiah Trimble / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, April 20, 2017Female
Very large game bird. Females have bare skin on the head and are dark brown overall, with a coppery sheen to the rump and tail. When open, the wings show white barring.
© Ryan Schain / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, March 03, 2012Female
Travels mainly by walking, but also runs, especially to escape predators.
© Anonymous / Macaulay LibraryNew Mexico, January 04, 2019Juvenile
Juveniles can leave the nest upon hatching, but mothers care for their young into the first fall.
© Doug Hitchcox / Macaulay LibraryMaine, July 05, 2018Female
At sundown turkeys fly into the lower limbs of trees and then move upward to a high roost spot. They usually roost in flocks, but sometimes individually.
© Etienne Artigau🦩 / Macaulay LibraryQuebec, December 30, 2020Habitat
Occurs in woods mixed with open country; often forages by scratching in leaf litter. Females and adult males typically form separate flocks; female flocks can be up to 30 in summer, larger in winter.
© Michael J Good / Macaulay LibraryMaine, December 28, 2016Similar SpeciesRing-necked Pheasant
Female
Ring-necked Pheasants are smaller and more slender than Wild Turkeys, with a longer neck, longer tail, and shorter legs.
© Chuck Gates / Macaulay LibraryOregon, January 22, 2017Similar SpeciesSooty Grouse
Female
Sooty Grouse are smaller than Wild Turkeys with shorter legs and tail, and usually a more upright posture.
© Alex Lamoreaux / Macaulay LibraryWashington, July 31, 2015Similar SpeciesDusky Grouse
Female
Dusky Grouse are smaller than Wild Turkeys with shorter legs and tail, and usually a more upright posture.
© Angus Wilson / Macaulay LibraryColorado, May 22, 2016Similar SpeciesRuffed Grouse
Adult
Ruffed Grouse are much smaller and more compact than Wild Turkeys, with shorter legs, neck, and tail. They are less than one-quarter the size of Wild Turkeys.
© Alix d'Entremont / Macaulay LibraryNova Scotia, April 06, 2013Similar SpeciesRuffed Grouse
Male
Displaying male Ruffed Grouse are much smaller than male Wild Turkeys, without the turkey's bare blue-and-red head.
© Lucas Bobay / Macaulay LibraryMinnesota, March 05, 2017Compare with Similar Species
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Species in This Family
Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies(Order: Galliformes, Family: Phasianidae)
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