When Corey blogged about our joint visit to New York’s Central Park at the weekend he titled his post A Great Bird (Well-deserved) in Central Park. What bird was he referring to? A Black-throated Grey Warbler, a very rare visitor to the State let alone to Manhattan Island and Central Park and a ‘great bird’ indeed. It was/is an extremely lovely little bird, but I have to be honest here and say that the bird of the day for me was not the smart, feather-perfect stray from the west coast, but was actually a Wild Turkey that we found as we headed towards the Ramble, a far less smart and very scruffy stray from…well, who knows actually…but one I found absolutely fascinating.

Wild Turkey, Central Park, Sept 2008

I would guess that given the choice most hardcore NY birders would rather see the Black-throated Grey, but once the undoubted thrill of seeing the rarity had passed wouldn’t it be just wonderful if Turkeys were to become an established part of the Manhattan birding scene? I well-remember the first turkeys I ever saw - on the edge of a California oak-forest with my good friend Jack Cole - back in 1991. I thought they were fabulous birds then, and I still think they’re fabulous now (well, maybe this bird wasn’t quite as fab as some of the ones I’ve seen since (or the one Mike so excellently captured back in April), but when the light hits those magnificent bronze feathers and shines on that splendid wattle how could anyone not be impressed?). Can you imagine seeing - let alone hearing - a flock of turkeys strutting, strolling, and shuffling through The Ramble within earshot of the traffic on 5th Avenue, or within sight of the American Museum of Natural History on Central Park West? It would be amazing wouldn’t it?

And apparently not impossible. I spent a few happy hours daydreaming about how on earth a Wild Turkey would get to Manhattan Island - whistling carelessly as it nonchalantly walked past security and on through the Midtown Tunnel perhaps, or wearing a raincoat and blending into the notoriously diffident commuters on the Staten Island ferry - but turkeys are already in the area and according to a page (dated 2003) on the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation website, “Wild turkey populations live in various parks across New York City, including Van Cortlandt Park and Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, Inwood Hill Park in Manhattan, the Greenbelt in Staten Island.”

Wild Turkey, Central Park, Sept 2008

Historically of course Wild Turkeys lived all along the east coast of the US and “were abundant in New York State during the 1600’s”, but because of uncontrolled hunting and the clearance of forests they were soon extirpated. The last observation of these native birds was all the way back in 1844 (http://www.esf.edu/pubprog/brochure/turkey/turkey.htm). It was a century later that they were reported again, when turkeys apparently moved northward from Pennsylvania into southwestern New York, gaining a proper foothold by 1957. That same year the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation began relocating birds to areas of the state that were capable of sustaining wild populations, and by 1990 there were estimated to be over 65,000 statewide! Not a bad recovery for a large bird that needs plenty of space and needs to watch its back wherever it turns up in case some hot-head with a rifle blows it into fillets.

Especially if they’re going to be as approachable and - I hate to say it - as dim-witted as this one. How long this bird will survive the attentions of the local rough-sleepers (especially in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving in November) or unleashed dogs is anyone’s guess. I mean really, are wild birds supposed be so unconcerned as this one when a human as hairy and large as Corey is so close? I think not.

Wild Turkey and slightly less wild blogger, Central Park, Sept 2008

Wild Turkeys whilst not being long-distance migrants in the mould of Barn Swallows can fly of course, and the Hudson River shouldn’t be too much of a barrier to the desires of a group of wannabe turkey suburbanites. Who knows where this influx of galliforms might end? Could it be that more ambitious individuals amongst the flock are already house-hunting downtown? Our bird may have been less than disturbed by our presence than I’d expected, but at least it was doing ‘turkey’ things in something approaching ‘turkey’ habitat. I was wondering how common turkeys are in Mahattan when I started to write this post and found the following remarkable excerpt from a New York Times report from May 2003: ”The thing scared me to death,” said Art Lindenauer, a retired chemical engineer who encountered the turkey in April on the balcony of his 28th-floor apartment on West 70th Street. Mr. Lindenauer has photographs of the turkey at rest, walking along the balcony railing, and taking flight…”

That must have been one heck of a sight, but perhaps it was just the first of many more. If banks can give speculative mortgages to customers with (to put it politely) “impaired or low credit ratings who may find it difficult to obtain finance from traditional sources” then why not consider a smart young feathered fellow or gal from upstate who fancies an apartment with a great view of the local park…?

Photos copyright Charlie Moores 2008