Nature’s Notes: Wild turkeys abundant in Corridor

Yellowstone National Park experiences bear traffic jams as dozens of cars stop to view bruins sauntering near the road. Iowa's own Corridor lacks bears but has our own wildlife jam when turkeys delay motorists as the big wild birds saunter across a road.

Before settlement turkeys were common in Iowa and across much of North America, but overshooting and habitat change in the 1800s removed them from vast areas. Remnant populations persisted in wild areas, and biologists once believed they could only thrive in massive woodlands. No one imagined they'd enjoy suburban living.

About 35 years ago the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and The National Wild Turkey Federation began stocking wild caught birds in our state's largest forests. They thrived, multiplied and soon spread out into even small patches of timber. Suburban housing developments didn't even stop them, and today wild turkeys are common in cities and towns in the Corridor and across the country.

Wild turkeys are massive birds that can reach 30 pounds although usually they weigh closer to 20. Males, called toms or gobblers, have a prominent beard protruding from their breast feathers. Smaller and sleeker females, or hens, lack beards. Except during the spring breeding season males and females live in separate flocks.

Adult turkeys normally forage for acorns and other seeds in woodlands. The weather in 2016 was perfect for turkey reproduction. Many eggs hatched into poults that grew to adulthood. Unfortunately fall's scanty acorn crop left the birds hungry as winter approached. Corn and sunflower seeds put out for songbirds lure hungry turkeys into yards. Perhaps that's why so many of the big birds are being seen in town this winter.

Marion Patterson is an instructor at Kirkwood. Rich Patterson is the former executive director of Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids.