Wild turkeys flock to East Bay cities
Population is booming — to some folks, they’re a nuisance
Like a pack of teenagers showing up to a party uninvited, about 20 wild turkeys swing by the home of Anthony and Holly Blackburn in Martinez on a daily basis.
They scratch through the landscaping, kicking up the mulch and pushing it onto the street. They poop all over the driveway and front porch and generally make a mess.
“I like watching them on the hill across the street, scratching and pecking, and even occasionally napping,” Anthony Blackburn said. But he added, “My wife
gets irritated because she cleans up after them.”
People in Bay Area suburbs have plenty of chances to decide whether wild turkeys are a nuisance or a charming addition to the landscape, especially in the East Bay, where the birds are thriving. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife doesn’t track the population, but biologists believe the number of birds is increasing. And people like the Blackburns are sure of it.
Turkeys aren’t native to California. Farm-raised birds were released into the wild by the state fish and wildlife agency in the first half of the 20th century to raise money through hunting-license sales. For years the population remained stagnant, probably because the domesticated turkeys lacked survival skills.
Then, in 1959, the agency began introducing wild turkeys trapped out of state. It did that for 40 years, and these more durable birds have prospered. As of a decade ago, the state estimated that 250,000 turkeys were roaming wild in California.
“They’re a species we don’t spend a whole lot of time researching,” said Greg Martinelli, a program manager with the Bay-Delta office of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. “Their populations have been expanding, mainly in the urban areas and rural areas, especially around vineyards.”
Officials don’t track where the turkeys are centered. But anecdotally, the East Bay is a hotbed of birds.
“I grew up in the Oakland hills and I never saw a turkey in the hills as a child, but now when I go back home I see turkeys quite often,” said Peter Tira, a spokesman for Fish and Wildlife.
“We are teeming with them out here,” said Aimee Grove of Lafayette.
When turkeys become a nuisance, landowners can apply to Fish and Wildlife for a depredation permit to kill birds, usually with a pellet gun or archery equipment. The agency used to issue about 40 such permits a year in Contra Costa County, but in 2013 the total spiked to 60. It has remained around there since, Martinelli said. By comparison, only one depredation permit has been issued over the past two years in both Marin and San Mateo counties.
Martinelli noted that the turkeys have few natural predators in the suburbs, and said they may have found wellwatered neighborhoods to their liking as the hills dried up during the recent multiyear drought.
“The birds were utilizing and taking advantage of the irrigated areas,” he said.
And many people find them anything but a nuisance. Wild turkeys are guaranteed traffic stoppers.
“The neighborhood embraces them,” Darlene Devon Andrade of Concord wrote in a Facebook post. “We are all very careful when driving and let them roam freely in our streets and yards so they can eat and be happy!”
But some residents complain of birds digging up landscaping, ripping screen doors and pool covers, tearing shingles off roofs, frightening dogs and young children and defecating all over the place. Male mating birds are territorial and have been known to scratch at cars when they spot their reflection.
“These turkeys weigh like 20 pounds and they know how to defend themselves,” said Dan Gluesenkamp, executive director of the California Native Plant Society. “There are tons of stories about people’s brand new Mercedes getting torn up by 20-pound toms who are looking at their reflections.”
When turkeys wreak havoc in an East Bay neighborhood, John Krause, the state Fish and Wildlife biologist for Contra Costa, Alameda and Marin counties, usually knows about it. Krause fields turkey complaints and requests for depredation permits.
“The first question we ask is, ‘Do you know anyone in the neighborhood who is deliberately feeding them?’ ” Krause said. “Almost always there’s someone who is dumping a bucket of corn out for them. Deliberate feeding attracts a nuisance.”
Before issuing a permit, Krause advises homeowners to “haze and harass birds” with loud noises and stop-motion sprinklers. “If there’s nothing to disturb them when they come into the yard, then they grow to be comfortable, and they’re going to keep coming back,” he said.
Gluesenkamp said he worries that the spread of wild turkeys is disrupting the natural environment, and says the California Native Plant Society is keeping a close eye on the birds.
“They’re filter feeders,” he said. “They move across the landscape, 20 or 30 of them, elbow to elbow, scratching every inch of the land. Nothing escapes this line of turkeys filtering the landscape. They eat every creepy-crawly, every salamander, every lizard, every snake, every nut, every acorn, every wild flower seed, every quail egg.”
Glusenkamp added, “Turkeys are really cool. They’re incredible birds. And we love seeing turkeys. But there are just too many.”
“I street, like watching scratching them and on pecking, the hill and across even the occasionally napping. My wife gets irritated because she cleans up after them.” Anthony Blackburn of Martinez