Turkey Banding
Today I helped the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) band Wild Turkeys here in Allegany State Park. What a perfect way to start the DEC and National Wild Turkey Federation’s second season by catching, banding and releasing 7 Turkeys. The DEC teams will continue to band birds across the New York State and collect information on our Wild Turkey populations.
I quickly headed down to the banding site after learning that I was given the ok to join the DEC team for the day. Once I arrived the crew had just finished setting everything up and it was now time to wait for the birds to show up. This was probably the coldest day of the year and I feel so sorry for that biologist who was stuck in that very cold blind waiting for their arrival. I decided to sit in my warm truck just down the road waiting for the his go-ahead that the birds have been caught and everything is clear.
I first found myself chatting with everyone ……. then trying to stay warm in the truck …… eating a little …… looking through the binoculars for any possible birds moving through…….. playing with the radio ……. turning on the heater again …….. playing with my cell phone …… and then a few hours later we got those 5 words that I can still remember!! “Radio silence we have birds!!” Did he just say that he can see birds out there? Everyone started to get excited and then we saw that very large pooof of smoke from the large rocket nets.
Supposedly this flock of Turkey arrived from the forest edge and then ran directly towards the cracked corn as if they were racing to see who would make it there first. It was only a matter of minutes until all the birds were on the target and the trigger was set off sending the rocket net directly over the birds. Quickly everyone at the waiting point took off in their trucks to assist in the banding of the captured Turkeys!!
For as many times that I have seen turkey up close, I found myself dumbfounded by how colorful they really are. Of course these colors can not be compared to the many songbirds that I band like the Yellow Warblers, Scarlet Tanagers or even the Indio Buntings!! But for an ugly bird like the Wild Turkey, they surely have such a spectacular blue, red coloring in their head and even those glossy green feathers on them just made me say “wow look at how beautiful they are”!!
Yes, let me tell you how hard it was to focus on preparing these birds for their removal from the net into their holding box. Each bird was banded one at a time with two metal bands placed around their legs. This allows each bird to be tracked individually like I do with my owls and songbirds.
To my excitement the team gave me an opportunity to band my very first Turkey with one of their bands!! As most know, I am currently a federal and state permitted licensed bird bander and I have handled hundreds of species of birds. My permits specifically say “all species except hummingbirds, gamebirds and endangered species. Wild Turkey are considered game birds and I know that I could have never dreamed of having an opportunity to band such a unique bird like the turkey. No doubt that I soaked up every second of the day and took a bazillion pictures.
We released these amazingly large birds as one group so that the flock would stay together (see me on the far left)!! There is no doubt that each one of these birds looked like flying bowling balls trying to make their quick getaway! This is just another winter day for a naturalist here in Allegany State Park.
Mon@rch's Nature Blog 
What a great day..
I was surprise to see they are not as ugly up close.
Any special requirenment for banding hummingbirds may I ask?
18 January 2007 at 12:50 am
That’s really cool. Turkey are so odd like that. I’d agree they’re an “ugly” bird, but their colors are amazing from the red in their head and neck to the almost prismatic colors in their feathers even though they just appear gray from a distance.
Those birds are amazingly aware of their surroundings, too. 🙂
18 January 2007 at 12:54 am
Didi – thanks and you have to go through all kinds of extra training to get your hummingbird permit! Maybe some day I can get some time to travel south to work under someone for many months and get the needed experience.
Randy – They are very ugly looking things! because they are amazingly aware of their surroundings that we rarely get to see those colors up close !
Thanks for visiting everyone!
18 January 2007 at 1:12 am
Wow, that looked like so much fun. I have read about turkey banding before, and it always sounded so interesting. How great for you. Between all the turkey hunting I have done over the years, and the few years that we raised them I can attest to the fact that they are a beautiful bird. Seeing them fly is amazing.
18 January 2007 at 6:51 am
Wow Tom-I’m almost as thrilled as you are you got to do this. It looks fantastic, and yes the turkey is as someone on Flickr said “strangely beautiful”
18 January 2007 at 8:41 am
What a cool day Tom! I have to say that I’ve never found turkeys to be ugly, but then I really think turkey vultures have a beauty too. I guess it’s like they say- beauty IS in the eye of the beholder!
18 January 2007 at 9:41 am
What a fantastic day for you my friend! “Just another winter day for you. . .” – that’s quite an understatement!! Why aren’t you allowed on your permit to band game birds? I’m glad you enjoyed your day – and thank you for sharing your excitement with us!
18 January 2007 at 10:02 am
Now that’s a great way to spend a cold winter day. Fantastic opportunity to get close to those amazing birds.
18 January 2007 at 12:04 pm
@ Jeremy – Thanks and I had a blast assisting! The DEC crew did an amazing job. BTW: left you an email on flickr!
@ Marg – thanks and they are great birds! Wish you could have been there!
@ Lynne – they sure do hold that strange beauty!! Thanks!
@ Nature Woman – I can always promise excitement when you are out on a hike with me! They give permission to banding game birds to the state wildlife department. Did enjoy thanks!
@ Robin – yes the temps were not that bad once we got our blood pumping (from excitement)! Thanks
18 January 2007 at 9:06 pm
It looks like you had a really great time Tom. These birds are amazing. I have been scared near to death by flushing one and having it fly over my head. It sounded like a B-52 as it went 5 feet over my head. I think it was Ben Franklin that wanted to make the Turkey not the eagle the American bird.
20 January 2007 at 10:08 pm
Who knew that people banded turkeys — I’ve always liked them being out there; kind of like a northeastern barometer of how wild our area still was. And you have to love it when you pass on standing in the next to the road on I-95.
21 January 2007 at 8:36 pm
Mike – I had a wonderful time! They are flying bowling balls for sure!
Marty – I never thought I would ever get a chance, maybe my next bird should be an ivory billed woodpecker?
22 January 2007 at 8:38 pm