Hunters typically focus their scouting efforts on roosting areas, clearings, and routes connecting the two areas when looking for spring turkeys. This strategy makes sense because, at this time of year, gobblers are more concerned with showing off than with finding a meal. But turkeys have to eat, too, and paying attention to food sources can pay off.
Turkey hunters can benefit greatly from knowing what wild turkeys eat and why they eat particular foods at particular times of the year. From a management perspective, it can help us gauge the productivity of different habitats. And from a scouting perspective, it can help us pinpoint areas where birds are likely to congregate.
Turkeys are fascinating creatures, and their diet is just one of the many things that make them so interesting. While they are primarily known for eating plants, they are actually omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and animals This means that the answer to the question “do wild turkeys eat meat?” is a resounding yes!
What Do Wild Turkeys Eat?
So, what kind of meat do wild turkeys eat? The answer depends on a few factors, including the time of year, the location, and the individual turkey’s preferences. However, some common food sources for wild turkeys include:
- Insects: This is a major source of protein for turkeys, especially during the spring and summer months when insects are abundant. Some of the insects that turkeys eat include grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, and ants.
- Small mammals: Turkeys will occasionally eat small mammals, such as mice, voles, and shrews. This is more likely to happen in the winter when other food sources are scarce.
- Reptiles and amphibians: Turkeys will also eat reptiles and amphibians, such as snakes, lizards, frogs, and toads. This is more common in areas where these animals are abundant.
- Carrion: Turkeys will sometimes eat carrion, which is the dead body of an animal. This is most likely to happen if the turkey is starving or if the carrion is fresh.
Why Do Wild Turkeys Eat Meat?
There are a few reasons why wild turkeys eat meat. First, meat is a good source of protein, which is essential for turkeys to grow and maintain their muscle mass. Second, meat can also provide turkeys with essential nutrients that they may not be able to get from plants. Finally, meat can help turkeys to stay warm in the winter.
How Does the Diet of Wild Turkeys Differ from Domestic Turkeys?
The diet of wild turkeys is much more varied than the diet of domestic turkeys. Domestic turkeys are typically fed a diet of commercially produced pellets, which contain all of the nutrients that they need. However, wild turkeys have to forage for their food, which means that their diet is much more diverse. This diversity in their diet is what allows wild turkeys to thrive in a variety of habitats.
What Can You Do to Help Wild Turkeys?
There are a few things that you can do to help wild turkeys. First, you can provide them with a source of food by planting native plants that they like to eat. Second, you can create a habitat for them by providing them with cover and nesting sites. Finally, you can support organizations that are working to protect wild turkeys and their habitat.
Wild turkeys are fascinating creatures with a diverse diet. By understanding what they eat, we can better appreciate these amazing animals and take steps to help them thrive So, the next time you see a wild turkey, remember that it is an omnivore that enjoys a variety of foods, including meat
How the Diets of Different Turkey Subspecies Vary by Region
A wild turkey’s wide-ranging diet is part of why the birds can be found in every U. S. state outside of Alaska. Furthermore, wild turkey flocks manage to survive in swamps, mountains, plains, and deserts, despite the perception held by many domestic turkey hunters that hardwood forests in the East represent the epicenter of turkey country. Here is a general breakdown of each subspecies and the major foods they tend to focus on.
Eastern turkeys are the largest and most abundant subspecies of wild turkey found in the U. S. They are found in every state east of the Mississippi River, where they feed primarily on hard mast like acorns and beechnuts, as well as native grass seeds and herbaceous plant flowers. As with the other subspecies, insects also play a valuable role in their diet.
A map showing the ranges of the different wild turkey subspecies. NWTF
Eastern turkeys in the Midwest are especially fond of waste grains and other agricultural food sources, including soy beans, corn, and wheat. A study conducted in Wisconsin looked at 100 hunter-harvested birds and found that the birds’ crops contained roughly twice as much waste grain (roughly 54 percent) as wild plants (roughly 27 percent).
Rios are native to the semi-arid southern Great Plains states, including Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and Texas. They depend heavily on oaks, pecans, and other mast trees, along with insects and a variety of grasses. Researchers with Texas A&M found that a random group of Rio Grande turkeys in the state had a well-balanced diet consisting of “about 36 percent grasses, 29 percent insects, 19 percent mast, and 16 percent forbs.”
Hydration is also extremely important to Rios and other wild turkeys in arid states. Turkeys obtain the majority of their hydration from surface water sources like ponds and creeks, but they also consume succulent plants, which have a higher water content than other plants. For this reason, in environments such as deserts and scrublands, Rio Grande turkeys may rely heavily on prickly pears and other cacti for food.
A resident of the mountains and high plains in the Western U. S. , Merriam’s turkeys inhabit some hard-to-reach locales. They eat the cones and seedlings of ponderosa pines and other coniferous trees, though they prefer the nuts from hardwood trees.
Tender grass shoots and buds are other springtime favorites, and Merriam’s turkeys often feed exclusively on grasshoppers at certain times of the year, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Merriam’s turkeys living in cattle country will also concentrate on feedlots, scrounging for leftover alfalfa, barley, and other waste grains.
In a study conducted on Merriam’s turkeys in South Dakota’s Black Hills, the U.S. Fish and WIldlife Service found that “adult birds consumed 78 different kinds of food” throughout the year. But four main food groups dominated their crops: ponderosa pine seeds, bearberries (also known as manzanita), green grasses, and arthropods (mainly grasshoppers and beetles).
These vibrant turkeys, which are unique to Florida, thrive in the state’s interior marshes and wide-open fields. While birds in drylands tend to eat more grubs and acorns, swamp birds typically consume more frogs, salamanders, and other small amphibians. Favorite foods also include berries, wild grapes, ferns, and other plants.
Gould’s turkeys are the rarest of the five subspecies of wild turkeys, and they are restricted to the mountains of Arizona and New Mexico. (Their range also stretches south into Mexico. They eat a variety of grasses and cacti, sometimes with the addition of lizards, in a diet akin to that of Rio Grande turkeys. They also concentrate on piñon nuts and berries from the common scraggly juniper trees found in the Southwest.
Inspect a Turkey’s Crop
All five subspecies of wild turkeys in North America eat this diet. The specific contents of their diet varies significantly by region, however, and the best way to understand what turkeys are eating in your area is to inspect the crop of a harvested bird.
“Sometimes you open up their crop and it’s packed full of one flower,” says Dr. Mike Chamberlain, a lifelong turkey hunter and one of the country’s leading wild turkey researchers. “Other times you’ll see ten different things. ”.
What Do Wild Turkeys Eat? Feeding Habits And Cool Diet Facts
FAQ
Do wild turkeys eat animals?
What is a wild turkey’s favorite food?
Are wild turkeys carnivorous?
What are wild turkeys eating in my yard?
How do wild turkeys eat?
They will actively feed in the morning and in the evening just before dark. Where food is limited, the birds will forage all day long. Wild turkeys will swallow their food whole and the food will be stored in their crop after which it will be digested in small portions. After feeding, wild turkeys will roost for a few hours while the food digests.
Do wild turkeys eat insects?
Wild turkeys do consume insects. Wild turkeys eat a lot of insects. They scrape and peck all day for grasshoppers, beetles, snails, caterpillars, and ticks. Do wild turkeys eat meat?
Do turkeys eat food?
But for turkeys, we can rule out food as a limiting factor. Given this bird’s extreme omnivory, other factors would likely come into to play before turkeys begin starving to death. For example, even in the depths of winter when snow cover blocks access to the ground, turkeys can make do.
Do wild turkeys eat cheap bird feed?
Wild turkeys aren’t fussy and will consume cheap bird feeds. Just be aware that feeding Wild turkeys isn’t always wise for the birds or for your property. Feeding turkeys can make them dependent on artificial food sources, and a flock of turkeys is capable of tearing a healthy garden to pieces!