TROPIC and NEAR-TROPIC BIRD COLLECTION

A Cluster of Turkeys Wild Turkey- Meleagris gallopavo Wild Turkey- Meleagris gallopavo, Order GALLIFORMES - Family PHASIANIDAE - Subfamily Meleagridinae. Wow! My first turkeys in Ohio! These turkeys were found in the winter fields adjacent to the Miami Whitewater region in SW Ohio. There were 13 turkeys in the group. When I got out of the car, they immediately sought cover in the brush. Sorry for the poor photos--it was the best I could do! "The Wild Turkey was a very important food animal to Native Americans, but it was eliminated from much of its range by the early 1900s. Introduction programs have successfully established it in most of its original range, and even into areas where it never occurred before. Populations dropped drastically in 19th and early 20th century because of hunting and habitat loss. Northeastern populations were eradicated. Stocking programs successfully reintroduced turkeys to most of eastern range, and to areas outside the ancestral range in West. Populations continue to increase." What a wonderful late February day! Photo: Feb 21, 2005, Canon EOS Mark II digital camera with 600mm f/4.0 L IS lens and 1.4X Teleconverter For more species info: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Wild_Turkey.html

JUMP to pg 1, pg 2, pg 3, pg 4, pg 5, pg 6, pg 7, pg 8, pg 9, pg 10, pg 11, pg 12, pg 13, pg 14, pg 15, pg 16, pg 17, pg 18

Photos Copyright R. Hays Cummins. Authorization required. For permission, contact hays@environment-education-press.org

Sources of species identification and other amazing info include (1) Cornell Lab of Ornithology--a fantastic site; (2)Birds of Eastern and Central North America, Peterson Field Guide Series, Fifth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company; (3) The National Audubon Society's Sibley Guide to Birds and (4) Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Third Edition, National Geographic, Washington, D.C.