Wild turkeys can come in different color phases
By Gary Bogue
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 at 6:31 am in wild turkeys.
Wild turkey hen “smoke” color phase. Photo by Pete Davidson, Martinez, CA
Gary:
This unusually colored wild turkey showed up by herself in my backyard one morning a couple weeks ago. Haven’t seen one like that before. Did some online research and found that it’s called the “smoke” color phase, which is one of the four distinct color variations of wild turkeys from what is considered the usual plumage. The others are erythritic or red phase, melanistic or black phase, and the true albinos which are pure white with pink eyes. My understanding is nearly all smoke color turkeys are hens.
Pete Davidson, Martinez, California
Pete:
I had no idea wild turkeys came in all these different color phases besides the normal colored plumage. Thanks for the information! /Gary
Wild turkey hen “smoke” color phase. Photo by Pete Davidson, Martinez, CA
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