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Merriam's

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Gould's

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Introduction to the Gould's Wild Turkey - Meleagris gallopavo mexicana
Background

The least known of the five wild turkey subspecies is the Gould's or Mexican wild turkey. It is a turkey found in the mountains of northern Mexico with a few in the U.S. in portions of Arizona and New Mexico along the Mexico / U.S. border. It was first described by J. Gould in 1856 during his travels in Mexico and aptly named for him.


Physical Description

The Gould’s turkey has the largest body frame of any of the five North American subspecies. It has longer legs, larger feet, and larger center tail feathers than other wild turkey. White tips on the tail feathers and tail coverts, which usually separate to exhibit an "eyelash" appearance, distinguish Gould’s from other turkeys. The body plumage is blue-green in color and the lower back and rump feathers have copper and greenish-golden reflections unlike the faintly iridescent velvety black of the Merriam’s. Hens have a less pronounced metallic green and red sheen and are more purplish in color. The Gould's can physically be distinguished from the Merriam's by it's larger size, longer tail feather and the even whiter tips of the upper tail coverts and major tail feathers.
 


Habitat and Range

Gould’s can be found in small numbers in Arizona and New Mexico but is abundant in northwestern regions of Mexico. Their primary range is the mountainous terrain found in the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains of Mexico. Populations exist in the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Sonora, Sinaloa, Durango, Zacatecas, Nayarit, Jalisco and Coahuila. They are also found in the Animas and San Luis Mountains of New Mexico and in the Peloncillo Mountains of New Mexico and Arizona.

Gould’s utilize areas of underbrush, along creek beds or other areas of thick brush with scattered openings in mountainous regions.

 

 

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