Nick reached out to us at wildturkeyDNA before he headed to New Zealand last year, to see if we wanted to test any samples from birds he may harvest. Of course, we said yes!
Turkeys in New Zealand have an interesting, albeit not entirely clear, history. Back in the 1800’s, wild turkeys were imported into the country for domestication, and it’s believed those birds originated from the Merriam’s subspecies. Likewise, domestic turkeys such as Heritage turkeys that lived on game farms have escaped or been released and are now living as feral turkeys.
Nick’s turkey has pale white tips on all of the tail feathers and the contour feathers on the back are nearly solid black and iridescent.
As it turns out, genetic testing through wildturkeyDNA revealed that this bird was 100% Heritage turkey, as it clustered directly with other known Heritage birds we’ve sampled.
Although we have no way of knowing solely from our genetic testing, the most likely scenario surrounding Nick’s turkey is that it either had escaped or been released and became feral or is the descendant of feral turkeys of domestic origin released many years ago.
We congratulate Nick for harvesting this turkey on the other side of the world and stay tuned for more results from wildturkeyDNA as we explore the origin of plumage color variations in these magnificent birds.
