Wild turkeys are seemingly taking over Toronto just in time for Christmas
While spotting a wild turkey roaming around Toronto isn't completely out of the realm of possibility on any given day, sightings of the birds at a time of year when they often serve as the centrepieces of dining tables feel especially weird.
Local turkeys appear to be making some sort of Christmas dinner statement this week by venturing away from the cover of nature and traipsing into bustling public spaces.
Just a few days after one such feathered friend was filmed patiently waiting at a stoplight near Highway 401 and Warden Avenue, another was seen running loose in the Woodbine and Danforth area on Thursday, and again along Greenwood Avenue on Friday.
After a citizen shared photos of the bird — or separate birds, potentially — to a community Facebook group early Friday, a few more people chimed in to say that they had also just seen a turkey in the area.
One claimed to have witnessed a similar fowl hanging out on a neighbour's property near Pape and Danforth shortly before noon today, while another shared a photo of what appeared to be the same little guy in their own backyard.
According to another post in a different Toronto group on the platform, one more turkey was seen near the corner of Warden and Sheppard Avenues this morning, prompting a flurry of questions and jokes.
People in the comments of both posts are pointing to the fact that there are multiple giant birds running rogue at the moment, with one calling it a turkey invasion.
"I live in the area. That's just Gobbles the local a**hole turkey," one person wrote about the Scarborough critter, who isn't the only turkey known to locals.
Workers at one Mississauga office are perpetually tormented by a turkey that frequents their parking lot. North Yorkers have one they say is "very friendly," though it has caused traffic issues. One also apparently lives on a suburban Brampton street, while another lives beside Christie Pits.
They've also been caught on video taunting police, chasing postal workers, waiting at subway stations, chilling at City Hall,
Around here I saw two run across the road a month ago
— Dharma (@DebAbides) May 17, 2023
This past Thanksgiving, some 1,500 live (but captive) turkeys also spilled onto Highway 401 and shut it down for a period
About 100,000 wild turkeys call Ontario home, per Canadian Geographic, and Toronto Parks and Forestry has said that Toronto is home to the habitats they prefer.
We're giving up puns cold turkey.
— Toronto Forestry (@TOtrees) May 16, 2023
Though Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) are uncommon in Toronto, we have the habitats they need: mature forests with nut trees like oak interspersed with forest edges and fields.
More at https://t.co/xskBXmnCIs pic.twitter.com/5diZkT2QTU
This past Thanksgiving, some 1,500 live (but captive) turkeys also spilled onto Highway 401 and shut it down for a period — alas, Ontario has been delivered some more absurd turkey-related surprises for this holiday, too.
Andrew Barker and Megan Templeton in the Danforth - EastYork - Woodbine Community Facebook group
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