Turkeys About Town

In New England, these big birds know how to strut their stuff!

November 2018

By Brianna Abbott

Mark Wilson/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Brookline, Massachusetts (pictured) is one of the many places where turkey numbers are rising.

Forgotten Fowl

From the 1850s to the 1970s, there were no wild turkeys in Massachusetts. That’s because of hunting and habitat loss. In the 1970s, biologists released 37 wild turkeys in the state. Today there are more than 25,000!

Big Birds

Male turkeys, or toms, weigh 16 to 25 pounds. They have flashier feathers than females and gobble to attract a mate. Females weigh 9 to 12 pounds, which is closer to the weight of a full-grown house cat.

Turkeys in the City

Boston, Massachusetts, has a growing turkey population. Not everyone likes it. In 2016, there were 60 complaints about turkeys. That’s three times more complaints than the city received in 2015.