Turkeys come in a beautiful array of colors, from the rich, iridescent hues of wild birds to the solid white of domestic varieties. Their feathers provide camouflage, attract mates, and offer hints about the age and sex of individual birds. So what are the colors that make up a turkey’s plumage? Let’s take a closer look.
Wild Turkey Feather Colors
Wild turkeys sport gorgeous, natural camouflage made up of rich earth tones. Their feathers help them blend into the forests and fields where they live. Here are the main colors found on wild turkeys:
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Dark brown is the predominant body color on wild turkeys. Their wings, back, chest and tail feathers are various shades of chocolate brown to black.
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Bronze and copper iridescence shimmers across many of their body feathers This results in metallic olive-brown and bronze-green hues
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Rusty tan appears on the tips of the tail and rump feathers.
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Creamy white bars decorate the wings. These are visible in flight
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Gray to blue skin covers the head and neck. Bright red wattles dangle from the throat.
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Iridescent green, purple and bronze show on the feathers of males during courtship displays.
The beautiful range of wild turkey feather colors and patterns provides camouflage from predators while also attracting mates.
What Colors are Male Wild Turkeys?
Male wild turkeys, also called toms or gobblers, are a bit more vibrantly colored than females of the species.
Here are some key points about male wild turkey coloration
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Their body feathers have an intense iridescent copper, bronze and green sheen.
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The tips of the tail and flight feathers may have a warm reddish-chestnut tint.
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Their feathers can appear black in some lighting.
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The featherless head and neck skin is colored blue with bright red wattles.
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During mating displays, male turkey feathers become extremely iridescent showing metallic greens, purples and bronzes.
What Colors are Female Wild Turkeys?
Female wild turkeys, also called hens, tend to be more subtly colored than the males.
Key notes about female wild turkeys:
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Their overall body color is a muted brown with little iridescence.
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The tips of the tail and flight feathers show rusty tan banding.
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Their wings display thick white barring when spread.
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Neck and head skin is grayish blue with a small red wattle.
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Some hens may show faint bronze or copper iridescence in their body plumage.
Do Baby Turkeys Have Different Coloring?
Wild turkey chicks, known as poults, are adorably fluffy and speckled when they hatch. Here are some notes on wild turkey poult colors:
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Their downy coat is light brown with dark brown striping for camouflage.
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They have a yellowish tan face and legs.
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Their wings show a dark bar even at a very young age.
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As juvenile feathers grow in, they resemble small female turkeys.
What Color are Domestic Turkeys?
After centuries of domestication, farm-raised turkeys look quite different from their wild cousins. Some key differences in domestic turkey coloring:
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Most domestic turkeys are solid white. This is intentional for easier processing.
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Some may be dark brown or black. Heritage breed turkeys show more natural coloring.
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Iridescent feathers are less common since they are bred for meat production.
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Bright red wattles and head caruncles are exaggerated through breeding.
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Blue and purple shades sometimes occur, like on Blue Slate turkeys.
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Speckled black and white patterns appear on breeds like the Bourbon Red.
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Metallic sheens occur on some heritage breeds, like the Bronze turkey.
Why are Domestic Turkeys White?
Early turkey farmers selectively bred birds to produce white pin feathers and plumage. Why white? Here are some of the advantages:
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Easier processing – White feathers are less visible on plucked turkey carcasses.
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Faster growth – The genetic link between fast growth and white color is favored.
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Efficient breeding – White turkeys breed more efficiently in large flocks.
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Consumer demand – Markets favor the uniform look of white turkey meat.
So while brown and black turkeys still occur, especially among heritage breeds, most commercial turkeys are white for practical production reasons.
Rare and Unusual Turkey Colors
While rich brown wild turkey plumage and solid white domestic birds are most common, unusual colors can sometimes occur. Here are some rare turkey feather shades:
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Albino turkeys lack pigment, resulting in pure white feathers.
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Lavender or self blue gene produces a light gray color.
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Silver causes black pigment to be restricted, leaving just white and gray.
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Chocolate brown and red shades arise from recessive genes.
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Splash pattern shows white irregular spots, like paint splatters.
These unique color variations, many stemming from recessive genes, turn up unexpectedly in backyard flocks.
How to Tell a Hen from a Tom by Color
When glimpsing a brown-feathered turkey through the brush, how do you know if it is a male or female? Look for these color clues:
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Males have more iridescent, shiny feathers with a coppery or bronze tint.
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Watch for a reddish-chestnut glow on the tail or wingtips of a male.
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Richer, darker brown and blacker feathers indicate a male.
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A bird with crisp white barring on duller brown wings is likely a female.
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The blue head and red wattle on a male are much more vivid.
So pay attention to those fine color details to distinguish gobblers from hens when turkey watching.
Summary
The gorgeous array of wild turkey feathers allows the birds to blend into their woodland environments. But whether it’s iridescent wild birds or solid white domestic turkeys, all their beautiful colors are sure to make you thankful come Thanksgiving!
Turkey Basics-Gobblers and Hens
Let’s begin with the basics of distinguishing male wild turkeys (gobblers) from females (hens).
Gobblers are larger-bodied birds, with a darker coloration, at times appearing almost black. In bright sunlight, their feathers cast a brilliant bronze or metallic iridescence. Gobblers have a featherless, red head (sometimes with blue and white coloring, too) with prominent wattle and fleshy, red growths (called caruncles) on their neck. They also have a “beard”—a tuft of black, hair-like strands—protruding from their chest.
On adult gobblers (called toms), the beard can be 7-9 inches or more in length, but on young gobblers (called jakes) the beard is <6 inches long. Typically, gobblers hang out away from hens during the summer since they take no part in raising young.
Hens are more brown in coloration and smaller in size than gobblers. They have a head that is more blue-gray in appearance, often with feathers continuing up the back of the head.
Occasionally hens will have a beard, but it is thinner than on gobblers and is quite often kinked. Hens can also have some feather iridescence, but not to the same extent as gobblers.
How many gobblers and hens do you see in this picture?
2 gobblers (both jakes, note the larger size, less-feathered red heads, and tiny stubble of a beard protruding from the chest of the jake on the right), 4 hens (one mostly hidden behind a jake, but you still can clearly see the typical head of a hen turkey poking out), 1 unknown. If we were here in person live, the birds would move about and we could probably determine that the unknown is another jake, but given what we can see in this photo, it’s best to just call this partially obstructed bird an unknown.
Poults develop very quickly (they must in order not to be eaten!) and feather types, appearance, and body size change rapidly as they age. Based on these characteristics, we can estimate the age of poults. For simplicity, we divide poults into three age classes.
1 week old or younger. Poults that are no more than about a week old are still covered with downy feathers and are very small (<5-6 inches tall). They look like little puff balls about the size of your fist.
Turkey Poult Class 1
2-5 weeks old. Poults in this class have grown longer wing feathers, but still are mostly covered with downy feathers on their body and still lack long tail feathers. They are about 6-10 inches tall, similar in size to a Blue Jay. In appearance, they look to be all wings (which is good because it means now they can fly into low trees to escape ground predators). Poults on the older end of this age class will have started to grow some juvenile plumage on their bodies, but still have short tail feathers.
Hen with class 2 age group poults
Hen with older class 2 age-group poult (borderline class 3)
Hen with class 2 age group poults
6-8 weeks or older. Poults early in this stage still have some down feathers occurring on the neck and head, but their body is covered with juvenile type contour feathers. They have visible tail feathers now, black-and-white barred wing feathers are emerging, and they stand about 10-12 inches tall, similar in size to a crow or a chicken. By about 8 weeks of age, poults are beginning to grow new “adult” looking body feathers and will have a mixture of juvenile feathers and adult feathers on their body. They are about half the size of the hen and will continue to grow to almost the same size as the hen by the end of the summer. Turkey Poults
Because they are very similar in size, late in the summer it can be very challenging to determine if a group of similar-sized turkeys is a flock of hens without poults or a hen and her older-age-class brood. If you’re unsure, it’s best to mark them as unknowns.
How To Draw A Funny Turkey
FAQ
What color is turkey?
Wild Turkeys have the deep, rich brown and black feathers that most people associate with turkeys. In completely opposite fashion, domestic turkeys are normally white in color, an intentional product of domestication because white pin feathers are less noticeable on the carcass.
What color should turkey be?
Most of the time, when turkey is cooked to 165 degrees F, the meat will be a white to light brown color throughout. Sometimes, the meat closest to the bones might keep a slightly pink color. A brined turkey is more likely to keep a little bit of pink color.
Are Thanksgiving turkeys white?
The National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation is a ceremony that takes place at the White House every year shortly before Thanksgiving. The president of the United States is presented with a live domestic turkey by the National Turkey Federation (NTF), usually a male of the Broad Breasted White variety.
Are turkey’s feet yellow or orange?
Adult wild turkeys have long reddish-yellow to grayish-green legs.
What color is a wild turkey?
The most common and recognizable turkey colors are brown and white. The brown feathers help wild turkeys camouflage and blend into the forest floor, while the white feathers create speckled patterns that break up the bird’s outline. This is the natural coloring of wild turkeys in North America.
What color are turkey feathers?
Actually turkey feathers colors vary depending on the breed. Wild turkeys have the deep, rich brown and black feathers that most people associate with turkeys. While the domestic turkeys are normally white in color, and intentional product of domestication because white pin feathers are less noticeable on the carcass.
What does a white turkey look like?
Most domestic turkeys are predominantly white, with some black feathers mixed in. Domestic turkeys do not display the flashy, iridescent colors of their wild cousins. Their skin is a pinkish-white hue. The Broad Breasted White turkey, the variety most commonly raised for meat production, has white plumage with some black accents.
Why do turkeys have different colors?
The differences in head coloration, snood size, and beards help humans determine a turkey’s sex even from a distance. In the wild, a turkey’s colors can signify age or communicate during courtship rituals: The wild turkey’s ability to alter its feathers is quite amazing.
What does a male wild turkey look like?
Gray to blue skin covers the head and neck. Bright red wattles dangle from the throat. Iridescent green, purple and bronze show on the feathers of males during courtship displays. The beautiful range of wild turkey feather colors and patterns provides camouflage from predators while also attracting mates. What Colors are Male Wild Turkeys?
What does a turkey bird look like?
The plumage provides excellent camouflage for these birds in woodland areas, helping them blend in with their surroundings and evade predators. When turkeys are young, their feathers have a more fluffy appearance and can range in color from light brown to gray, often with buff or white markings.