RE: [cobirds] Wild Turkeys in Ft. Morgan and one in Longmont

Birders,

There are generally two types of Wild Turkey in Colorado. The Merriam's Wild Turkey is mostly present in the foothills and mountains. This is the race that was probably common in the state pre-European settlement, but which was subsequently reduced to almost nil. In the last several decades, there has been an active and very successful re-introduction campaign in the state. Merriam's are now back in strong numbers in much of their former range in the mountains. Rio Grande Wild Turkeys have been released, mostly for sport stock, in the Plains. They are now very common along the main river drainages like the South Platte in Fort Morgan. It's possible that they were native to the region as well, but I'm not completely sure we have enough information from the 1800's to establish that for certain. 

In the summer of 2013, Wild Turkeys began to appear in many out of the way places in eastern Boulder County. By this I basically mean east of Broadway. Throughout the summer, well before the September rains, there were birds seen on the CU Campus, Sawhill Ponds, Cure Farm off Valmont and 75th, in downtown Niwot, etc. I became familiar with the birds at Cure Farm when the staff alerted me to the turkeys' daily habit of eating the ornamental grapes growing outside their kitchen window, with the birds sometimes sticking their heads in to look for scraps on the counter. 

The appearance of these birds did not coincide with the floods. It is much more likely that, like Front Range Bobwhites, Ring-necked Pheasants, and Chukars, they were released by some enterprising sportsmen. It is true that they could have walked down from the foothills nearby (100's inhabit the foothills directly adjacent to Boulder). However, their sudden appearance in what is a rather novel habitat compared to what the local Merriam's are used to seems suspicious to me, and I think that the lowest common denominator with birds like this is Man. 

I continue to see these turkeys along eastern Boulder Creek near 95th St. They weathered the floods it seems, which makes sense given that they can fly just fine so can spend as much time as they like sitting high up in trees. They are also some of the most intelligent of birds, so they can be expected to shelter out of harms way. I can also attest to the fact that their habitat in the foothills was minimally impacted since they spend relatively little time in drainages and prefer the uplands. 

Thanks,

Christian Nunes

Boulder, CO

P.S. Colorado Parks and Wildlife is always a good source of info on game birds like Wild Turkeys: http://cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/turkey.aspx

 

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Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2014 12:31:44 -0700
From: katpbennett@gmail.com
To: cobirds@googlegroups.com
Subject: [cobirds] Wild Turkeys in Ft. Morgan and one in Longmont

Coming back from Kearney, NB this past Sunday (500K Sandhills at least!), we passed about a dozen Wild Turkey toms, standing next to Interstate 76 at Ft. Morgan (Morgan County). A few had their tails up in full display.

Then, last night, Virginia Dionigi reported to the Foothills Audubon Bird Club that she saw a hen turkey at the Arby's on North Main in Longmont the other day!

It was suggested by someone at Bird Club that the flooding last fall displaced turkey populations to points further east than they normally live.

Kat Bradley-Bennett, Longmont (Boulder County)

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