The area of the common turkey extends from Mexico in the south to the southern provinces of Canada in the north. The area of the ophthalmic turkey lies to the south – from Mexico in the north through the whole of Central America to Belize and Guatemala in the south. These birds live settled, keep small flocks of 5-20 individuals. Turkeys are active during the daytime, they prefer to search for food at dawn and at dusk, during the day their activity decreases slightly, and they spend the night on the trees.
Like all chickens, turkeys prefer to move around the land, walking long distances on foot. Their wings are relatively small, but they fly better than pheasants and peacocks. They resort to flying only in special situations: when they take off for trees for a night’s lodging or in search of food. However, in case of danger, turkeys prefer to flee from the enemy, and only if he is too close, take off. Usually they fly about 100 m (less than 400 m), sit down again and continue to run.
There is a good reason for such behavior. The fact is that the turkeys are excellent runners, which is quite unexpected for such heavy birds. They do not need to develop a speed of 30 km / h, and in exceptional cases they can accelerate even up to 50 km / h. And birds are distinguished by great endurance and, unlike flight, can maintain such a pace for quite some time. If we consider that on the run the turkeys prefer to sharply change direction, it becomes clear why in former times the riders could not catch these birds on horseback.
