Nonmigratory Species: Wild Turkey

Turkeys (Melegris gallopavo) were certainly the first American game birds to attract the attention of Europeans. They are large and have ample white breast meat. Columbus was said to have brought some to Europe, and Hernando de Soto mentioned them as early as 1540. Turkeys were so desirable that they were nearly hunted to extinction. By 1920, they were extinct in thirty states, and only limited populations survived in eighteen others. Two decades later, captured wild birds were released in likely habitat where they no longer existed. In New York, wild turkeys had been extinct since 1844, but vast numbers of them can be seen today, and the state has spring and fall hunting seasons.