silvery turkey.... cross?

So, I'm in a new club this year and having to learn the new place. Got some cool pics this weekend of a weird turkey... y'all think she's a hybrid or cross with a domestic or just that she has some crazy condition?

She sure is pretty

Smoke

Smoke color - only seen that on tv

Smoke phase. I’ve only seen one in the wild. It was in Bibb county maybe 20 yrs ago.

Theres some close to here. Maybe shell produse a gobbler or two

Seen these 2 mate twice in one day. i can confirm there is offspring from them and one is a tom that is a tad darker than the male

^^^ cool pics

Got to see a group of hens last year on a track in Montgomery Co that had 3 of the smoke colored phase birds in it. Only ones I’ve ever seen.

We have a flock up here with three of them all hens. Look almost white. Smoky grays they call them.

Looks like a Narragansett hen to me.

Good pic! The smoky gray is the most common color variation in wild turkeys. There are several other variations, but this is the only one I've ever seen personally, and all that I've seen that were alive were hens. I did see a 2 yr old gobbler in GA that a guy had just killed. He had been after him the whole season and finally got him while I was there.

I had a big Tom here like that years ago . I'd see him in a group during fall and winter but come spring never saw him was like that till he stopped showing up

Narragansett Hen that got loose

>>>Turkey experts in Minnesota and Michigan have said the smoke-phase is a natural occurrence in wild turkeys that’s not associated to interbreeding with domestic turkeys.

Some experts estimate that roughly one in 100 wild turkeys is white or mostly white-colored. They all agree that hens make up a much higher percentage of white turkeys than toms.<<<

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2...ank-as-one-in-a-hundred/?amp-content=amp


The smoky gray phase appears in turkey populations from Minnesota to Florida and has nothing to do with domestic turkeys. It's a natural color phase that occurs through a recessive gene. Do an internet search and you will find articles from nearly every state.

You just iced this cake.... The white bird in that picture in the article you posted PCP is neither... that's a "Royal Palm".

The dumbass that wrote that article don't know chit from brown shoe polish. I mean... Google it. Heritage Birds have been bred in this country for literally 100's of years. Does anyone think they all are hidden away in a chicken house somewhere in a secret Gubberment location guarded by the military? They can run and fly. They are in people's yards.

I shot a Melanistic Turkey once.

FYI - Those are called a "Black Spanish"

I know guy in chocktaw county that hunted a solid white for 5 years - finally got him - said he was one of toughest birds he ever hunted - he guides some in chocktaw county - he stuffed that bird - monster spur

You should probably put “Sir” in front of or behind most of your closed minded sentences; and “In my rudeass opinion” when speaking to someone that’s as nice, has common sense, mild mannered, and knowledgeable about turkeys as preacher man. I hate to be the one to call ya out, and I know from reading your post that you’ll have some other stupid comment towards me too, but I tried. Probably a lot like your momma. Thanks for your service, but you’re a straight up dick.

Carry on.

I doubt preach even gave it a notice .

It's no big deal; GK is a good guy that has posted lots of useful info through the years. Whatever he says on farm machinery is likely the truth, and he he knows a lot about many other subjects.

I think he is wrong in this case, but anything is possible. There are likely thousands of smoky gray turkeys seen in the wild every year, and as I posted above, they seem to be in every population of the Eastern bird. In order for all of them to be escaped domestic turkeys, it would mean that thousands of them are escaping every year, and they are doing it all over the country. And they somehow do it year after year after year. That seems unlikely to me, especially when there is a simple explanation that wildlife biologists everywhere seem to accept. I don't accept everything the nwtf says, but their documentation of the various color phases of the Eastern wild turkey seems very thorough to me.

I first saw a smoky gray in Perry county in the late 60s, and the last time I saw one was in a fall flock maybe 3 years ago. We saw her several times and then she disappeared. I think that it is likely that most of them don't live very long due to their coloration being more visible to predators. The smoky gray turkeys I have seen in AL and GA looked identical to the one that the OP posted, and the odds of any of those Perry county turkeys being domestic turkeys have gotta be greater than one in a million. For a tame turkey to live on our place, it would have to escape from it's home, make a journey of many miles, and then take up with a flock of wild turkeys that were the same age. The odds against that are pretty long, though I guess not impossible.

It doesn't matter a whole lot, though I think it does matter. I've heard of people intentionally killing smoky gray hens to get the "tame blood" out of the flock. I would say don't do that; the GW is not gonna buy it and we will never eliminate it from the gene pool. Just enjoy seeing an unusual turkey if you see one.

Never seen this one with my eyes on our farm.