Most, if not all, of the migratory birds have reached their summer destination and have begun the nesting process. Incubating eggs and raising chicks is currently ongoing in warmer environs.
Residential birds are doing the same here in panhandle Florida. Watching the broods and fledglings is a popular pastime with many residents.
While songbirds, wading birds and even birds which nest on the shore get almost all the attention, there is one more group of birds with cute, but vulnerable, juveniles demanding food and blithely scurrying about.
Game birds, those hunted in the fall and spring, have chicks and poults now. The largest of these are Eastern Wild Turkeys.
Hatched in the early spring, this poult is learning the ways of the wild in panhandle Florida. One mistake and the game is over for this game bird.
This is the same turkey species Squanto of the Patuxet tribe used to help the Pilgrims survive their self-inflicted peril caused by ineptitude and ignorance of the wilderness in 1621. The bird’s range extends from Florida to southern Canada.
Eventually, this turkey’s popularity almost proved to be its downfall. Pressure from hunting and habitat destruction reduced these turkeys to dangerously low numbers with the threat of extinction looming by the early 20th century.
Strenuous game management and hunting regulations eventually alleviated pressure on the population, averting extinction. The turkey once again became a holiday favorite and hunting objective, but not as ardently pursued as in decades past.
Life in the 21st century has changed turkey hunting from the woods to the supermarket meat case, mostly during the autumn and winter holidays. Domestic turkey production is concentrated, for the most part, in states known for producing large volumes of feed grains.
Curiously, the commercially produced domestic turkeys are not descendants of the Eastern Wild Turkey population in north Florida’s woods. These gobblers and hens trace their lineage back to southern Mexico and the Aztec Empire.
Enterprising Spanish conquistadores took these birds back to Europe during the 16th century along with the gold, silver and other booty. If the food supplies ran out or spoiled during the return voyage to Spain, turkey was served shipboard.
In the following decades, propagation of the domesticated turkeys reached France, Britain and other European countries and provinces.
The tasty birds were a prized novelty on the estates of royalty and the landed gentry. The lucky aristocratic diners enjoyed the plumage, as well as the culinary aspects of the turkey.
Ultimately, European turkey producers were successful enough to export the live birds back to the North American colonies to feed those who did not have the time, skill or inclination to hunt the wily Eastern Wild Turkey.
The human population is not alone in its enjoyment of turkey as a main dish. Many native omnivores enjoy the native turkey’s eggs and poults.
Additionally, larger carnivores will prey on adult turkeys, except for the mature males or toms. They are equipped with several effective tools for defense, and the disposition to effectively apply them.
Eastern Wild Turkeys do not migrate, so they remain in the area all year. Depending on availability, they feed on the berries, acorns, seeds and occasionally small reptiles.
The rapidly growing poults hone their survival skills as the season progresses. Only the most adept at spotting danger and reacting effectively will make it to fall.
The others will supply nutrition to the forest full of predators.
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