TROPIC and NEAR-TROPIC BIRD COLLECTION

Wild Turkey Closeup Wild Turkey- Meleagris gallopavo Wild Turkey- Meleagris gallopavo, Order GALLIFORMES - Family PHASIANIDAE - Subfamily Meleagridinae. Wow! My first turkeys in Ohio! This pair was found in the Brookville Reservoir area in extreme western Indiana near the Ohio border. "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 early April day! (Photo: April 10, 2004, Canon 10D, EF 300mm f/4.0L IS USM, 1.4x teleconverter EF ll lens ) 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.