what color is a turkey's beak and feet
Wild turkey
At the beginning of the 20th century the range and numbers of wild turkeys had decreased due to hunting and loss of habitat . Game managers estimate that the entire population of wild turkeys in the United States was as low as 30,000 by the late 1930s . By the 1940s , it was almost totally extirpated from Canada and had become localized in pockets in the United States , in the north - east effectively restricted to the Appalachians , only as far north as central Pennsylvania . Game officials made efforts to protect and encourage the breeding of the surviving wild population , and some trapped birds were relocated to new areas , including some in the western states where it was not native . There is evidence that the bird does well when near farmland , which provides grain and also berry - bearing shrubs at its edges . As wild turkey numbers rebounded , hunting became legal in 49 U.S. states ( excluding Alaska ) . In 1973 , the total U.S. population was estimated to be 1.3 million , and current estimates place the entire wild turkey population at 7 million individuals . In recent years , `` trap and transfer '' projects have reintroduced wild turkeys to several provinces of Canada as well , sometimes from across the border in the United States .
At the beginning of the 20th century the range and numbers of wild turkeys had decreased due to hunting and loss of habitat . Game managers estimate that the entire population of wild turkeys in the United States was as low as 30,000 by the late 1930s . By the 1940s , it was almost totally extirpated from Canada and had become localized in pockets in the United States , in the north - east effectively restricted to the Appalachians , only as far north as central Pennsylvania . Game officials made efforts to protect and encourage the breeding of the surviving wild population , and some trapped birds were relocated to new areas , including some in the western states where it was not native . There is evidence that the bird does well when near farmland , which provides grain and also berry - bearing shrubs at its edges . As wild turkey numbers rebounded , hunting became legal in 49 U.S. states ( excluding Alaska ) . In 1973 , the total U.S. population was estimated to be 1.3 million , and current estimates place the entire wild turkey population at 7 million individuals . In recent years , `` trap and transfer '' projects have reintroduced wild turkeys to several provinces of Canada as well , sometimes from across the border in the United States .