Wild Turkey

Meleagris gallopavo

The Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is a bird found in United States and Canada. Open forests of North America. It eats leaves and other plant parts, insects and other small invertebrates and fruit. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

See the Wild Turkey on the 3D globe →

Scientific name	Meleagris gallopavo
Region	North America
Found in	United States and Canada

🏡 Where the Wild Turkey lives

Open forests of North America.

🍽️ What it eats

🌿 Leaves & plants40%
🐛 Insects & bugs20%
🍎 Fruit20%
🌰 Seeds & nuts20%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

LCNTVUENCREWEX

Least ConcernThere are plenty of these birds.

💡 A wild turkey can fly short bursts at nearly 90 km/h.

Hear the Wild Turkey

Recorded by Manuel Grosselet (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC617755. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Wild Turkey

Where does the Wild Turkey live?

The Wild Turkey lives in United States and Canada. Open forests of North America.

What does the Wild Turkey eat?

leaves and other plant parts (about 40%), insects and other small invertebrates (about 20%), fruit (about 20%), seeds and nuts (about 20%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Wild Turkey endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from North America

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.