Wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) -- two males and one female. Credit: flickr.com/teddyllovet (Teddy Llovet)

In a couple of weeks, Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving Day. For many of us this will mean gathering the extended family for a tasty dinner. Often the centerpiece of the menu is a large roasted turkey.

Usually, the turkeys we serve have been domestically bred and raised on a turkey farm. We often forget, however, that wild turkeys once roamed widely in the New Jersey area, and that hunting them was a favorite sport.

The wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is the largest game bird in North America, and they are very different from the domestic turkey. In fact, the domestic turkey weighs about twice as much as a wild turkey, and most are so heavy that they are not able to fly. Wild turkeys, on the other hand, spend their nights in the low branches of trees, and to do this they must be able to fly.

Wild turkeys typically live in the wooded areas of eastern and southern North America. They spend most of their days foraging for food, like acorns, seeds, small insects, and wild berries.

Because of their popularity for holiday feasting, the wild turkey may be the most famous bird in North America. In fact, Benjamin Franklin wanted to make the wild turkey--not the Bald Eagle--the national bird of the United States!

Where did the wild turkey get its name? When the Spanish first encountered the bird in the Americas more than 400 years ago, they took it back to Europe. The English mistook it for a bird they had been calling a "turkey," so they gave it the same name. That other type of turkey--the "original" turkey--was actually from Africa. The English brought that bird to Britain by way of the country of Turkey, and somewhere along the line the name "turkey" stuck. Even after they realized their mistake, the English never bothered to change the bird's name.

Wild turkey hunting is legal today during short, week-long seasons in April and November. Hunters must have proper licenses, as well as the permission of a land owner in order to hunt. Importantly, turkey hunters must report their all of their kills to the state, and they are limited to collecting only one wild turkey of either sex each day.

One may not hunt wild turkey inside the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. The Refuge has an ongoing and successful program to restore the wild turkey population in this part of New Jersey.