Me neither, I didn't think turkey was among the numerous introduced gamebirds. Perhaps someone can shed some light on the origins and spread of turkeys in NZ?
They are feral domestic birds, not actual Wild Turkeys. They are found in pockets around the country, although if you see a bird wandering around it's just as likely (or more so) to just be a roaming farm bird.
I don't know if I've seen white ones. I know they are in NZ but off the top of my head I only recall seeing "normally-coloured" turkeys on farms. They aren't something you see a lot of though - turkeys aren't as regular here as they are in America.
The field guide for NZ says "locally common", describes it as "familiar farmyard Turkey", and has the habitat as "farmland, especially where there is good cover". I wouldn't be comfortable counting any turkey I saw in NZ as a genuine wild bird though, because I think it'd be difficult to say if it is actually wild or just a bird or flock from some nearby farm. Same issues with guineafowl and chickens (some birders in NZ count the latter as "Red Junglefowl"!). To a much lesser degree with Peafowl, but even they would need context.
@Chlidonias It's interesting that the turkeys in NZ are normal form, I don't think I've ever seen a wild-type on a farm here. They're always white or piebald. Never hard to tell whether a bird is wild or captive. The other notable factor is the wild ones are quite skittish, whereas the domestic ones are pretty bold. Are the normal type ones in NZ generally skittish when encountered off farms?
I don't know if I've ever seen an actual wild-population feral turkey - none I've seen have been particularly skittish but I don't pay them much attention to be honest. Still, good news for if I should see any turkeys in the wild in America, I was wondering how I'd tell if they were actual Wild Turkeys or just random farm birds!
I saw some (true wild) last summer and they were not that skittish. In fact they were right along the only road going up Madera Canyon (south of Tucson, Arizona). I suppose their behavior depends on whether or not they are in an area where they are hunted. It's the same with mule deer - when I see them in Prescott Dells (northern Arizona but hunted) they stay far away and run when I am still far away. When I see them at Grand Canyon (northern Arizona and not hunted) they are in the parking lot and you have to be careful not to run them over!
There were both males and females in Madera Canyon, but I only have a picture of the two males:
@Arizona Docent I agree it does depend on whether they are hunted and what their experiences with people are. My general experience has been the wild ones are far more skittish though.
