New Zealand Introduced Animals > Turkey

Turkey

INTRODUCED

ORIGIN: One type is originally from Yucatan and Guatemala (Agriocharis ocellata; family - Phasianidae) and the other is from Mexico and the US (Meleagris gallopavo; family -Phasianidae).

BREED DESCRIPTION: A Wild Turkey’s head and neck is essentially naked, the feathers being reduced to hair like bristles. The tarsus is equipped with spurs, and the tail feathers can be raised to form a vertical fan during courtship or aggressive displays. The male has a long wattle at the base of the bill and additional wattles on the neck, as well as a prominent tuft of bristles resembling a beard projecting downward from its chest. The male turkey in full plumage is dignified and almost royal in appearance.

USE IN NEW ZEALAND: Meat, game shooting

GENERAL: Turkeys were introduced to New Zealand around the 1890s. In those days, until around the 1950s, most farms raised a few pigs and had a mob of turkeys along with "chooks" and ducks to give a greater self sufficiency than is apparent on most farms today.


© New Zealand Conservation Trust 2006 - 2010, 60 Hussey Rd, Harewood, Christchurch Phone: +64 3 359 6226, Fax: +64 3 359 6212, Email: info@nzconservationtrust.org.nz		Privacy \| Disclaimer \| Site Map website by digitise