The Merriam's Wild Turkey ranges through the Rocky Mountains and the neighboring prairies of Wyoming, Montana and South Dakota, as well as much of the high mesa country of New Mexico. The tail and lower back feathers of Merriam Turkey have white tips and purple and bronze reflections. Find your next Merriam Turkey hunting adventure with professional Merriam Turkey Hunting Guides and Outfitters.
Despite their weight, wild turkeys are surprisingly agile fliers and cunning. Merriam Turkeys are very cautious birds and will fly or run at the first sign of danger. Their ideal habitat is an open woodland or savanna, where they may fly beneath the canopy top and find perches. They usually fly close to the ground for no more than a quarter mile (400 m). Turkeys have many vocalizations: "gobbles," "clucks," "putts," "purrs," "yelps," "cutts," "whines," "cackles," and "kee-kees." In early spring, male turkeys, also called gobblers or toms, gobble to announce their presence to females and competing males. The gobble can carry for up to a mile.