One contented turkey

There's a new neighbor strutting about in Batavia. This wild turkey made it past Thanksgiving and seems to enjoy her new digs across from Les Arends Forest Preserve.

Not your typical "feeder bird" in suburban backyards, the wild turkey is a traditionally a forest dweller. In Illinois, mature oak woodlands provide excellent cover and abundant food. Turkeys dine on acorns and hickory nuts, with a smattering of insects, seeds and fruit as well.

Although they are huge birds, they are agile fliers and can easily navigate obstacles like tree trunks and branches in a forest. Pretty impressive considering their wingspans can exceed 5 feet!

Turkeys roost in trees and forage on the forest floor. With their keen eyesight, wary wild turkeys are always on the lookout for predators and they are easily spooked.

The wild turkey is a quintessentially American bird. Native to the eastern United States and northern Mexico, the turkey was hunted and revered by indigenous peoples long before Europeans arrived. Wild birds were first domesticated in Mexico, and Spaniards took domesticated turkeys to Europe in 1519. Descendents of this domesticated stock made a return trip back across the Atlantic Ocean with the Pilgrims in 1620. Domestic and wild turkeys have co-mingled ever since.

By the early 20th century the population of wild turkeys was seriously depleted. Over-hunting is often blamed for the bird's decline, but loss of habitat was a key factor as well. Large tracts of forest were logged and cleared all across the eastern United States, creating fragmented habitat with diminished resources.

A major food source, the American chestnut, fast disappeared with the advent of the chestnut blight in early the 1900s. Hunting pressure was relentless. Homelessness and hunger are hard enough, but add over-harvest to the mix and the situation becomes dire.

Concerted efforts to re-build the wild turkey population began in the 1940s throughout the bird's native range. In Illinois, wild birds were reintroduced in the Shawnee National Forest in 1956. Today, wild turkeys can be found statewide and are common in many counties. Nearly 15,000 wild turkeys were harvested in Illinois in 2007, and populations are thriving throughout the state.

Joel Brunsvold, former director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources said, "This is one of the greatest success stories in IDNR history." Habitat restoration, ongoing management of healthy oak woodlands, and regulated hunting are key to the success.

Let's hope this hen turkey can find a tom for Valentine's Day.