Image of Meleagris gallopavo intermedia Sennett 1879

Description:

"Rio Grande Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo intermedia) 18 May 2016 Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge Vistors Center Cache Meers Road (State Highway 115) Lawton, Comanche County, Oklahoma 73507 Observed a single Rio Grande Wild Turkey hen foraging in one of the grassy areas adjoining the Visitors Center at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge near Lawton, Oklahoma. There are four subspecies of wild turkey in Oklahoma according to the online site of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation including: Merriam’s or Rio Grande/Merriam Hybrids, Eastern, Rio Grande/Eastern Hybrids, and Rio Grande. If we consult the map provided by this site for wild turkey in Oklahoma, we see that by far the most common of the four subspecies of wild turkey in the state (including Comanche County where the wildlife refuge is located) is Rio Grande Wild Turkey. This is the wild turkey subspecies that's found exclusively in Comanche County and the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Rio Grande Wild Turkey is an authentic resident of North America and the Western Hemisphere. The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge is administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Department of the Interior. Sources: ""Oklahoma's Wild Turkeys,"" Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, range map, description, photographs, accessed 5.20.16, http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/hunting/turkey.htm ""Current Wild Turkey Distribution,"" Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, range map by county, accessed 5.20.16, http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/hunting/images/turkeydistribution.jpg"