When scouting for spring turkeys, hunters tend to concentrate their efforts on roosting areas, clearings, and travel routes between the two areas. This approach makes sense, as gobblers are more focused on strutting their stuff than securing a meal this time of year. But turkeys have to eat, too, and paying attention to food sources can pay off.
Understanding what wild turkeys eat—and why they eat certain foods at certain times of the year—is valuable knowledge for turkey hunters. From a management perspective, it can help us gauge the productivity of different habitats. And from a scouting perspective, it can help us pinpoint areas where birds are likely to congregate.
Turkeys are large distinctive birds that are an important part of America’s cultural and culinary heritage. While most people are familiar with eating turkey especially around Thanksgiving, fewer people know the details about what turkeys themselves actually eat. Understanding the dietary habits and needs of turkeys is important for raising healthy domestic flocks, managing wild turkey populations, and appreciating these unique birds.
The Omnivorous Appetite of Wild Turkeys
Wild turkeys are opportunistic foragers and will eat a wide variety of foods depending on availability and season, Their diverse natural diet allows wild turkeys to adapt and thrive in a range of habitats across North America,
Wild turkeys are omnivores, meaning they eat both plant and animal matter. The bulk of their diet consists of seeds, nuts, fruits, leaves, roots, and insects. But they will also occasionally eat small amphibians and reptiles like frogs, salamanders, and snakes.
Some specific foods that wild turkeys commonly eat include:
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Acorns, hickory nuts, pine nuts, and other tree mast. These high-fat nuts provide essential nutrition and energy, especially in fall and winter when other foods are scarce.
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Insects like grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, and caterpillars. Insects are a vital source of protein for wild turkeys.
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Berries and fruits such as blackberries, blueberries, grapes, cherries, and persimmons. Fruits provide natural sugars and carbohydrates.
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Various seeds and grains like wheat, oats, rye, corn, and soybeans. These foods become more prevalent for turkeys living near agricultural areas.
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Greens and leafy vegetation including grasses, clover, alfalfa, and tender new plant growth. These provide nutrients and bulk.
The proportions of different food sources in a wild turkey’s diet changes with the seasons due to availability. For example, in spring and summer turkeys will rely more heavily on insects, greens, and fruits. But in fall and winter they depend on nuts and seeds.
The Surprisingly Diverse Diet of Domestic Turkeys
Domestic turkeys that are raised for meat and egg production are usually fed a commercial feed designed to meet all their dietary needs. However, turkeys being raised more naturally or for small farms can eat a diverse mix of foods.
Domestic turkeys will forage and eat many of the same foods as wild turkeys if allowed. They also do well on a varied diet of grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy products, and proteins. Here are some healthy options:
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Grains like corn, wheat, oats, barley, rice, and millet can make up the bulk of a domestic turkey’s diet. Whole grains provide carbs and fiber.
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Table scraps like stale bread, pasta, and baked goods are relished by turkeys. But avoid too many leftovers high in fat, salt, or sugar.
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Fresh greens and vegetables like kale, spinach, lettuce, peas, beans, carrots, squash, and potatoes. These provide vitamins and minerals.
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Fruits including apples, bananas, grapes, melons, and berries are great occasional turkey treats. They have natural sugars.
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Dairy products like milk, yogurt, cheese, and eggs add protein and calcium. Goat milk products are best.
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Meal worms, crickets, grubs and other bugs are an important protein source.
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Small amounts of cooked meat, fish or eggs also provide protein.
Key Factors Influencing Turkey Diets
Several factors impact the specific contents of both wild and domesticated turkey diets. These include:
Geography – The native foods available depend on the climate, terrain, and flora of the local region where the turkeys live. For example, turkeys in the wooded northeast eat more tree mast like acorns, while turkeys in agricultural midwestern areas eat more corn and soybeans.
Seasons – Food availability fluctuates through the year as plants go through cycles. So turkeys switch preferences seasonally based on what is accessible.
Age – Baby poults start out eating mainly insects which are a critical protein source for early growth. Adult turkeys eat a wider range of foods.
Wild vs Domesticated – Wild turkeys eat whatever nature provides, while domestic flocks eat a controlled, high nutrition diet, with supplementary natural foraging.
Farming Practices – The diet of domestic turkeys can vary greatly depending on whether they are cage raised, pasture raised, organic, non-GMO, etc.
Providing a Complete Turkey Diet
Turkeys need a varied diet that provides balanced nutrition. Here are some key guidelines for an optimal turkey diet:
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High quality protein sources are essential, and should come from plants, grains, dairy, eggs, insects, or small amounts of meat.
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Complex carbohydrates from whole grains provide energy and should comprise the biggest portion of total food intake.
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Fruits, seeds, and vegetables add healthy vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Leafy greens are especially important.
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A sufficient calcium source like dairy products helps build strong bones and eggshells.
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Plenty of fresh water is critical for health, digestion, and hydration.
By understanding the wide range of foods turkeys naturally eat, we can better provide the complete and healthy diet they need to thrive. Their diverse tastes are a testament to the adaptable, opportunistic nature of these unique birds. Whether wild or domesticated, a varied turkey diet supports overall wellbeing while allowing expression of their natural behaviors.
How the Diets of Different Turkey Subspecies Vary by Region
A wild turkey’s wide-ranging diet is part of why the birds can be found in every U.S. state outside of Alaska. And while a lot of homegrown turkey hunters picture hardwood forests in the East as quintessential turkey country, wild turkey flocks also find ways to thrive in the swamps, mountains, plains, and deserts. Here is a general breakdown of each subspecies and the major foods they tend to focus on.
Eastern turkeys are the largest and most abundant subspecies of wild turkey found in the U.S. They inhabit every state east of the Mississippi River, where they key in on hard mast such as acorns and beechnuts, along with seeds from native grasses and the flowers of herbaceous plants. As with the other subspecies, insects also play a valuable role in their diet.
A map showing the ranges of the different wild turkey subspecies. NWTF
Eastern turkeys in the Midwest are especially fond of waste grains and other agricultural food sources, including soy beans, corn, and wheat. A study conducted in Wisconsin looked at 100 hunter-harvested birds and found that the birds’ crops contained roughly twice as much waste grain (roughly 54 percent) as wild plants (roughly 27 percent).
Rios are native to the semi-arid southern Great Plains states, including Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and Texas. They depend heavily on oaks, pecans, and other mast trees, along with insects and a variety of grasses. Researchers with Texas A&M found that a random group of Rio Grande turkeys in the state had a well-balanced diet consisting of “about 36 percent grasses, 29 percent insects, 19 percent mast, and 16 percent forbs.”
Hydration is also extremely important to Rios and other wild turkeys in arid states. While they get most of this from surface water—creek and ponds, for example—turkeys also hydrate by eating succulent plants, which contain more water than other plants. Accordingly, prickly pears and other cacti can be important food sources for Rio Grande turkeys in deserts and scrubland habitats.
A resident of the mountains and high plains in the Western U.S., Merriam’s turkeys inhabit some hard-to-reach locales. While they prefer nuts from hardwood trees, they’ll also eat the cones and seedlings from ponderosa pines and other coniferous trees.
Tender grass shoots and buds are other springtime favorites, and Merriam’s turkeys often feed exclusively on grasshoppers at certain times of the year, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Merriam’s turkeys living in cattle country will also concentrate on feedlots, scrounging for leftover alfalfa, barley, and other waste grains.
In a study conducted on Merriam’s turkeys in South Dakota’s Black Hills, the U.S. Fish and WIldlife Service found that “adult birds consumed 78 different kinds of food” throughout the year. But four main food groups dominated their crops: ponderosa pine seeds, bearberries (also known as manzanita), green grasses, and arthropods (mainly grasshoppers and beetles).
Found exclusively in Florida, these colorful turkeys are at home in the swamps and the open pastures in the interior of the state. Birds in the swamp tend to incorporate more frogs, salamanders, and other small amphibians into their diet, while dryland birds focus more on grubs and acorns. Favorite foods also include berries, wild grapes, ferns, and other plants.
The rarest of the five wild turkey subspecies, Gould’s turkeys can only be found in the mountains of Arizona and New Mexico. (Their range also stretches south into Mexico.) Their diet is similar to Rio Grande turkeys and includes various species of grasses and cactus, with the occasional lizard thrown in. They also key in on piñon nuts and berries from the scraggly juniper trees that are common throughout the Southwest.
Turkey Food Varies by Season
Aside from the regional availability of certain foods, the time of year also dictates what wild turkeys eat. This is because some foods are more plentiful at certain times of the year—but also because turkeys change their habits along with the seasons. Over the course of his 30-plus years studying America’s largest game bird, Chamberlain has watched these dietary shifts occur year in and year out like clockwork.
“If you look at turkeys across the year, their fall and winter is tied to food,” Chamberlain says. “That’s all they’re worried about, surviving and eating.”
Hard mast provides a high-energy, high-protein food source to get the birds through the colder months. And when acorns are plentiful in the fall and winter months, you can often find turkeys in and around hardwoods. Timber stands within striking distance of a farmer’s field or a rancher’s feedlot are even better places to look.
“As soon as turkeys come out of winter, they use completely different habitats. I call it the spring shift,” Chamberlain says. “The reason for that is they tend to go back to the same places every year to breed.”
Turkey habitat in the spring revolves around clearings and open areas, Chamberlain explains. Turkeys need to be able to see one another, and the gobblers need plenty of room to strut. But these open, grassy areas provide plenty of turkey food, too. The birds typically key in on the fresh shoots, grasses, and other green forage cropping up in fields during the springtime. Insects also start to play a larger role in their diet as the weather warms.
As the breeding season wraps up, hens shift their focus to nesting. Female turkeys need a safe place to hide and sit on their eggs for a month. Shrubbier, grassier areas with dense cover usually fit the bill.
Then comes the summer, which is a plentiful time for hungry turkeys. A wide variety of edible plants are available, from blackberries to fresh buds and flower bulbs. Insect populations also peak during this season and play an even more important role in a turkey’s diet. Poults in particular need a steady diet of bugs for healthy growth during their first few months of life. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources points out that a typical poult’s diet will consist of 75 percent insects or more during their first summer. Adult turkeys also molt in the summertime, and insects give them the protein they need to grow new feathers.
“Then,” says Chamberlain, “they rinse and repeat that cycle every year.”
What Do Wild Turkeys Eat? Feeding Habits And Cool Diet Facts
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