Wall color:
|
Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson, Arizona, is one of the state’s most reliable places to observe wild turkeys. In late afternoon, they often come to the bird feeding area at the Santa Rita Lodge to see what food they can find scattered under the bird feeders. Over the course of the day, the smaller birds have spilled many seeds onto the ground. I have seen as many as thirty of these beautiful turkeys milling under the bird feeders. Occasionally, one of these large birds will fly up onto a feeder. It’s quite comedic to see a bird of that size on a feeder designed for much smaller birds.
Wild turkeys are a conservation success story in Arizona. Because of careful wildlife management, the Gould’s wild turkeys, which were once extirpated from the southern mountains, have now made a comeback and are once again seen with regularity in the Sky Islands.
