Where Have They Gone? is related to pheasants, quail, and grouse
Where Have They Gone? The wild turkey, the largest game bird in North America, is related to pheasants, quail, and grouse. It is found throughout the United States, except for Alaska, and in parts of Canada and Mexico. There are five recognized sub-species, which vary slightly, in color and size. The male wild turkey, called the tom or the gobbler, is a large robust bird weighing up to 30 pounds and standing as high as four feet tall. His body color is brownish black with a metallic, iridescent sheen. The head and neck, nearly bald, vary from white to blue to red. Bright red, fleshy bumps, called carnucles, droop from the front and sides of the neck, and a fleshy flap of skin, called a dewlap, is attached to the throat and neck. A fingerlike protrusion called a snood hangs over the front of the beak. When the tom is alert, the snood constricts and projects vertically as a fleshy bump at the top rear of the beak. A clump of long, coarse hairs, called a beard, protrudesfrom...