Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)
I'm not 100% sure that
this is the species that I say it is! My bird books suggest
that the wild turkey is gone from most of its original
range, and suggests that it is not even found in Canada!
But we've got a lot of these birds, and they sure look like
turkeys, complete with the "Gobble - Gobble"! So, until
someone lets me know otherwise, THIS is a wild turkey! We
have a lot of them around, and in this picture, there is
one chick visible. However, just before I took the picture,
I counted a total of 8 chicks.
Do you remember Mr. Carlson in the
famous Thanksgiving episode of "WKRP in Cincinnati"
proclaiming that he thought turkeys could fly? Well, I was
the opposite! I didn't think they could fly, so imagine my
surprise when one day while sitting on the deck at the
campground, I saw a large shadow pass over me. I looked up,
to see this large bird gracefully flying past!