Feathered friends make a home on the Island
If you’ve ever had to pause while a platoon of wild turkeys crossed the road or have come face-to-face with a particularly needy tom at South Ferry, you might be surprised to learn that up until a few years ago, these birds were practically non-existent on Shelter Island.
Now, they roam across the Island in flocks of 20 or more and are rapidly becoming the stuff of urban legend throughout the New York metropolitan area. One of only two domesticated birds originating in the New World — the other being the Muscovy duck — wild turkeys were ubiquitous in colonial America and undoubtedly prevalent when Nathaniel Sylvester settled on Shelter Island in 1652.
Mashomack Preserve Director Mike Laspia claims that archeological surveys of the area show that wild turkeys were a staple food source for Native Americans. “They’ve been here for hundreds of years,” he said. In fact, Benjamin Franklin famously argued that the wild turkey, not the bald eagle, would be a far better choice for the national bird.
CLOSE TO EXTINCTION
But by the early 1900s, the wild turkey population across the United States was on the verge of extinction, a victim of widespread hunting, commercial harvest and habitat destruction. Reports say that in the mid-1930s, fewer than 30,000 wild turkeys remained in the entire country.
With the passage of the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act in 1937, which earmarked funds for conservation and wildlife habitat enhancement programs, wild turkey populations began to rebound. According to the National Wild Turkey Foundation, some seven million wild turkeys now roam through North America, with huntable populations in every state except Alaska.
But no one seems to know exactly how or when the wild turkeys came back to Shelter Island. Mr. Laspia recalls that some 30 to 40 years ago, New York State game agencies began trapping and transferring small flocks to different locales around the state, which led, he said, “to a dramatic resurgence” in the turkey populations. “The DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) began releasing turkeys to Long Island about 20 years ago,” he said. “They even came here and asked the Town Board if it would consider re-introducing wild turkeys on Shelter Island. There was a public outcry — people were concerned that they would become a public nuisance like the deer — and it wasn’t done, although East Hampton, Southampton and Brookhaven did allow release.”
Mr. Laspia’s recollections are corroborated by a November 25, 2001 article in the New York Times that reported a team led by Mark Lowery of the state DEC had set out in 1992 to re-introduce the eastern wild turkey, which had disappeared from Long Island in the late 19th century. The DEC reportedly captured 79 wild turkeys in upstate Saratoga and Albany counties, tagged the birds with colored wing streamers and leg bands and transported them to Suffolk County, where 30 were released into Hither Hills State Park near Montauk. The remainder were set free in South Haven County Park near Shirley. The Hither Hills flock reportedly stayed put, Mr. Lowery was reported as saying, but the South Haven turkeys took off, scattering across the county, with banded sightings as far away as Calverton.
“About four, five, maybe six years ago, a couple of wild turkeys showed up here,” Mr. Laspia said. “I don’t know how or where they came from. They certainly could have flown across South Ferry channel.”
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
As anyone who has witnessed the turkeys roosting on a roof or in trees knows, wild turkeys certainly can and do fly. Unlike their domestic counterparts, they can reach speeds of 55 mph, although, according to Tom Damiani of the North Fork Audubon Society, “They really don’t like to fly across water.”
The turkeys that have made their home on Shelter Island are eastern wild turkeys, one of six North American sub-species — although they may have interbred with domestic turkeys. The males or toms typically weigh between 11-24 pounds and are about 39-49 inches long. The female or hen is significantly smaller, weighing 5-12 pounds with a length of 30-37 inches.
Coloration differs between the sexes, with males having black tipped breast feathers, blue-gray heads and necks and pink wattles. When excited, the male’s head and neck coloration changes, alternating between shades of reds, whites and blues. During the spring display, their foreheads are white, faces are bright blue and necks are scarlet. The toms have leg spurs and obvious beards.
Female turkeys have blue-gray heads and light, rusty brown breast feathers that can be tipped with brown, gray or white. If present, the beard is small and the hens rarely have spurs. But both sexes of wild birds are predominantly dark brown, which leads Mr. Laspia to believe that our resident flocks are “not true wild turkeys” because of the preponderance of white feathers on many of them. In addition, he said, “The turkeys I’ve seen here exhibit very little wild turkey behavior.” Mr. Damiani concurs, “The turkeys here don’t seem to be afraid of people the way truly wild birds would be.”
Both men believe that some cross breeding with barnyard or domestic turkeys has occurred. “Hatcheries sell turkey chicks and some people on Shelter Island have bought and raised them for table fare and there were probably a bunch of escapes or releases,” Mr. Laspia said. “The birds here are very tolerant of humans in their landscape. You can’t get anywhere near a ‘real’ wild turkey,” he added.
Mr. Damiani told of sitting in Peter Berger’s home on South Ferry Road one day, only to look up and see a turkey sitting on the porch railing, staring intently into the window of the house. Since Mr. Berger didn’t feed the birds as some Islanders are known to do, Mr. Damiani concluded that they had encountered, (drum roll, please) “a true Peeping Tom.”
SO WHAT’S ON THEIR MENU?
Studies have revealed that over 600 different species of plants and animals are consumed by wild turkeys and as the wait staff at Pat & Steve’s will attest, the Shelter Island turkeys are indeed omnivorous. While they feed on acorns, seeds, nuts and berries as well as small amphibians and reptiles, the turkeys that come to the restaurant’s parking lot dine on bread, corn and whatever else the staff provides, according to waitress May Corbett.
This past Saturday, Ms. Corbett counted 31 birds, “the biggest group we’ve seen. It seems as though small groups are joining together now,” a behavior pattern that Mr. Laspia says is very common among birds (and humans) at this time of year. “While we mostly scatter the food on the ground for them, I have gotten one to eat out of my hand,” Ms. Corbett said. “I just love them.”
In an article earlier this month in the New York Times, residents on Staten Island complained that wild turkeys are not only eating their shrubs and garden vegetables but have been known to snatch cookies out of the hands of children. They reportedly wake families up before sunrise and cross the streets in “indolent flocks that seem impervious to impatient drivers. “The turkeys have no real predators,” said Mr. Laspia, “so like the deer, they do have the potential to become a nuisance in our ecosystem. I know that on the South Fork, people complain about them digging up their gardens, and of course, about their droppings.”
BIRDS DO IT
The male wild turkey is polygamous, mating with several hens during each mating season. To attract a female, the male puffs out his feathers, spreads his tail and drags his wings in a behavior referred to as strutting. According to Mr. Laspia, this is the one time of year when a male turkey may become aggressive toward humans.
After breeding, the female typically lays about 12 eggs over a two-week period in a nest that is simply a shallow depression in the dirt and is surrounded by vegetation. Cornell Cooperative Extension says that only about 35 percent of nests are successful in producing young, with the eggs falling prey to skunks, fox and possum, which also attack the freshly laid chicks or poults. If first nests are destroyed, however, hens will often re-nest. Eggs are slightly larger than a domestic chicken egg and are light tan with dark brown speckles or blotches. The poults hatch in about 28 days and typically leave the nest within hours after hatching.
TALKING TURKEY—AND DINNER
While the most familiar call of the wild turkey is the gobble, it is only one of some 30 different calls this bird makes. Last week, the PBS series, “Nature,” ran a show entitled, “My Life as a Turkey,” the story of how naturalist and wildlife artist Joe Hutto became a “turkey mom” to 16 wild turkeys in rural Florida in 1991 and learned to “talk turkey” to communicate with his adopted family. Mr. Hutto began “talking” with the poults while they were still in their shells and eventually recorded a range of sounds that communicated fear, curiosity, anger and sorrow, and other “emotions” on the part of his flock.
Wild turkey populations on Long Island have now rebounded to the point where hunting was reinstated in 2009. Per the DEC’s current “Hunting & Trapping Guide to Suffolk County,” there was a wild turkey season from November 19 to 23 of this year, during which time licensed hunters could take one bird of either sex with a rifle, handgun or bow. This leads us, finally, to the question on many lips: are wild turkeys edible? The answer is “yes,” but with some caveats.
The meat will be tougher than domestic birds so the younger the bird, the better. Some sources say to use only the breast meat while others claim that the whole bird is delicious. All recommend low and slow cooking for the tenderest results.
Most of us will take the easy way out and enjoy one of the wild turkey’s domesticated cousins this holiday. Don’t forget to throw the beggar at the South Ferry a little hand out after you’ve enjoyed your Thanksgiving feast.
Gobble. Gobble. Gobble.
