While many people carve up a nicely roasted domestic turkey each Thanksgiving, there's a good chance they might spot wild turkeys ambling across yards or along farm fields and roadsides on the way to or from holiday gatherings.

That wouldn't have happened 100 years ago, when the U.S. wild turkey population was down to about 200,000 birds due to hunting and logging operations that decimated habitats, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

In Minnesota, they rank as one of the Department of Natural Resources' best comeback stories. Turkeys from Missouri were brought to southeastern Minnesota in the 1970s, and they've been expanding west toward the Dakotas and north beyond Grand Rapids since then, said Nate Huck, a resident game bird specialist for the DNR.

The birds can grow up to 25 pounds, which makes their dark-brown shapes easy to spot. Each adult may have up to 5,000 or 6,000 feathers, some of which shimmer with purple and green iridescence and sport a variety of patterns and variations.

"They're a really adaptable bird," Huck said. They are able to thrive in urban and agricultural areas, but also live in remote woods thanks to a diet that can include insects, berries, plants, tree buds, frogs, snakes and nuts. They can run up to 18 mph, fly up to 50 mph and spend nights roosting in trees to stay safe from predators such as coyotes. As many as 40 turkeys might be tucked into the same tree.

About 70,000 permits were issued during the state's 2024 spring and fall turkey hunting seasons. The meat can be tougher and drier than white-feathered, farm-raised turkeys, but it's tasty when tenderized and prepared well, Huck said.

Anthony Souffle
A wild turkey stretches its wings as it forages for food with a small flock in Minneapolis.

As winter progresses, look for flocks that can top 100 birds. They start gobbling by March and begin mating season by April. That's when you're most likely to see males (toms), fanning tail feathers like a peacock — and looking like the classic Thanksgiving icons they've become.

Lisa Meyers McClintick of St. Cloud has freelanced for the Minnesota Star Tribune since 2001 and volunteers as a Minnesota Master Naturalist.