How Do Wild Turkeys Survive the Winter?

By Deborah Jahn, Becketwood Member

While inspecting what would become my new home at Becketwood last spring, I opened a door to the outside – smack into the feathers of a large tom turkey that was sitting on the stoop. I’m not sure which one of us let out a louder cry of surprise. I soon became accustomed to seeing wandering groups of turkeys on the property, and was delighted by watching “our” flock of young chicks grow into adolescents throughout the summer and fall.

But when the cold and snow came, they seemed to disappear. Where did they go? I’d seen them fly briefly to get over Becketwood’s fencing, but I couldn’t imagine them flying south. I had to investigate. After doing some research I learned, as those who have lived here many years know, they don’t go far. But how do they survive?

It turns out that cold, by itself, is not a major problem for turkeys. Feathers make terrific insulation, and a turkey has more than 5,000 of them. During spring, summer and fall, they build up a supply of fat by foraging on naturally occurring fruits, nuts, berries, plants, and even small vertebrates, as well as eating seeds that have fallen to the ground from bird feeders. In fact, it’s been found that turkeys can lose up to forty percent of their body weight before starvation becomes a concern. Turkeys will roost out of the snow whenever possible. During severe storms, they will stay in the trees, sheltering themselves from the weather as much as possible.

So I’ll be looking for turkey footprints in the snow this winter and eagerly awaiting the new batch of little ones next spring.