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From: foley@helix.nih.gov (Charles K. Foley)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: OUTDOOR: Wild turkeys?
Message-ID: <970@nih-csl.nih.gov>
Date: 13 Feb 91 18:15:53 GMT
References: <144605@pyramid.pyramid.com> <1991Feb12.233152.16610@mailer.cc.fsu.edu> <2229@sun13.scri.fsu.edu>
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In article <2229@sun13.scri.fsu.edu> sandee@sun16.scri.fsu.edu (Daan Sandee) writes:
>The extended neck makes it clear : turkeys. TV's don't have much of a neck
>to extend, and anyway the neck isn't red.
>The most obvious distinction is the way they fly. TV's are excellent flyers,
>and even if you flushed them and they were getting away at low altitude, they
>make a good job of it. They look like enormous crows with an efficient wing
>beat. Turkeys, on the other hand, like all chicken-like birds, are clumsy
>fliers. They're fat birds that always fly like they have a problem staying up.
>
Hmmm.  This sounds contrary to everything I've ever heard about turkeys and
vultures.  Both birds are plentiful here in North Carolina and friends of
mine regularly hunt turkeys.  Turkeys, like many game birds such as
pheasant, actually are very strong fliers.  My bird guide (Birds of North
America by ?) makes a point that pheasants are some of the "best" fliers of
the avian world.  The difference is that turkeys etc. prefer to walk or
run.  If you see birds flying high in the air they are almost certainly
turkey vultures.  Turkeys do not soar for long periods as a vulture would.
--
Charles Foley (foley@iris03.niehs.nih.gov)
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
National Institutes of Health
Research Triangle Park, NC 27705