Wild Turkey Tips

Once a rare sight, these days it’s not uncommon to see a flock of wild turkeys in residential neighbourhoods. Drawn into urban and suburban areas looking for food and mates, wild turkeys are loved by some but may be a nuisance or source of fear for others.

Ways to solve a wild turkey problem

1. Don’t feed wild turkeys

• Turkeys are often looking for food.  They typically eat berries, seeds, plants, insects and small vertebrates (i.e. frogs, snakes). 
• The first step towards encouraging turkeys to move on, is to eliminate sources of food such as direct handouts from people, unsecured garbage, and spilled bird seed. You may consider removing bird feeders (especially in the spring and summer) until the turkeys move on.

2. Scare away turkeys

• Although wild turkeys may look large and intimidating, they are usually timid and scare easily.
• During mating season (February-May), male turkeys may venture into neighborhoods looking for females to mate with. They may respond aggressively to reflective surfaces (such as windows, automobile mirrors, or polished car doors), thinking that their reflection is an intruding male turkey. In this case, scare the turkey away and then temporarily cover the reflective surface if possible.
• Wild turkeys have a “pecking order” of dominance and may view people or pets who act fearful as underlings, chasing them or blocking the entrance to homes or cars. It’s easy to scare turkeys away by making noises (try waving your arms and yelling or blowing a whistle), popping open an umbrella, or dousing the turkey with water from a hose or squirt gun.  A leashed dog may also be effective in scaring a turkey away.

3. Encourage roosting turkeys to move elsewhere

• Wild turkeys usually roost in trees, but in urban areas they are also known to roost on roofs or on decks.
• The good news is that wild turkeys are cautious birds that are pretty easy to scare away.
  • To break up turkey roosts on decks or roofs, making loud noises or spraying them with a water hose is usually all that’s needed, although sometimes a follow-up treatment might be necessary.
  • You may also put up some balloons or sparkle tape to scare them or use anti-perching devices (such as Birdwire or another type of wire installation that limits or prevents perching on your roof).

4. Watch out for turkeys on the road

• Wild turkeys sometimes forage along the road, so watch for these feathered pedestrians crossing the road without checking for cars. And look carefully for stragglers as these birds travel in groups.  

Turkeys are common in Lakeshore’s rural areas and will move into other areas while foraging for food.  Help them move along and back to the rural areas by not feeding them or encouraging them to roost. 

Lakeshore reminds residents that hunting is permitted is specific areas during hunting season only. 

• For further information, visit the Ministry of Natural Resources website at:  https://www.ontario.ca/page/preventing-and-managing-conflicts-birds.
• Hunting:  https://www.ontario.ca/page/hunting