This is Not a Pigeon
04/10/2013
One of my friends had an odd animal encounter this morning. Upon arriving at his office in urban, downtown Minneapolis, he spotted a bird perched on the window sill a few stories up. No, it was not a pigeon or even a starling or other common urban songbird. It was decidely bigger.
Take a look a the short video he took of the strange visitor. Do you know what it is? Scroll down for the answer.
Video by Brian Brown.
It's a wild turkey! Wild turkeys are pretty awesome birds, and are actually rather odd. They're not typically found in the middle of urban centers. These birds were once almost completely wiped out by habitat destruction and unregulated, unsustainable hunting. Fortunately, due to the efforts of conservation groups, they've made a major comback...and are now sometimes spotted in cities, as this video shows.
I actually had a similar encounter several years back in Washington, DC. I was walking down the street going to visit a friend's apartment, and I saw what I thought was a medium-sized dog down at the other end of the block. As I got closer I noticed the dog was kind of weird-shaped, and then it burst into flight. It was no dog, but a wild turkey in the middle of the city!
Photo by warriorwoman531 via Flickr Creative Commons.
See my TV appearances and learn how to protect wildlife with National Wildlife Federation.
Recent Comments