This Turkey Tuesday is about leucistic wild turkeys, which in many ways are a great example of the phrase “birds of a different feather”. Many people would glance at this image and immediately think the white turkey has to be domestic, a farmyard bird, or someone’s pet. Well, the reality is there are leucistic wild turkeys in our flocks, which have been clearly documented through the Wild Turkey DNA project. Leucism is a genetic mutation that causes a complete loss of pigmentation (melanin) in feathers; however, other parts of the body are unaffected. For instance, the head, beard, and legs show normal coloration. Leucism is different than albinism, where the bird lacks all melanin throughout the body. It’s unknown what percentage of wild turkeys are leucistic, but the condition is found in many birds, including robins, crows, and sparrows. It’s also unclear what conditions facilitate the appearance of the mutation in wild turkey flocks, but ongoing research suggests that it does occur broadly across the species geographic range and within multiple subspecies. It’s also unknown what the appearance of leucistic wild turkeys means to our populations, more research is needed to provide that clarity. The take home is leucistic wild turkeys are quite unique and certainly stand out from normal appearing birds in our local flocks. Has anyone seen a leucistic wild turkey?
Pic by Devin Mullenbach.
