This time of year, turkeys are almost never alone.
In late fall, flocks of wild turkeys will feed together in meadows, digging up worms or foraging for acorns and grasses. Meals aren’t always peaceful — the males, or toms, are known to squabble and compete for food — but they’re almost always had as a group.
But at the Battery in downtown New York, Astoria the turkey is on her own.
The beautiful bird has settled there following a lengthy stay in the quiet gardens of Roosevelt Island and a brief, chaotic stint in Midtown Manhattan. Last spring, she headed downtown to live among the hubbub of tourists who visit the park to board boats to the Statue of Liberty. She’s the only wild turkey in Manhattan.
Astoria’s move was likely motivated by a biological imperative she may never fulfill. Across New York Harbor, on Staten Island, there are hundreds of turkeys. But they can hardly fly more than a few hundred feet in one burst, let alone the 5 miles between the boroughs, and Astoria hasn’t yet figured out the ferries.
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