In our neck of the woods... A turkey murder mystery.

I was hiking in the forest near our house recently, and I came upon this carcass of an eastern wild turkey (the eastern wild turkey is one of the four subspecies of wild turkeys living in North America). I immediately determined this turkey was a tom... a mature male. Notice the sharp spur on the leg bone. The spur isn't real long, but it's longer than the spurs of a jake (a juvenile male turkey). The second photo is a close-up of the leg bone and spur, an important bit of forensic evidence.

It's time to put on our Sherlock Holmes hats, folks, because murder is afoot. Or should I say fowl play?

Something—or someone—murdered this turkey, and I aim to sleuth it out (can sleuth be a verb?). Your ideas are welcome, so feel free to contribute to solving the mystery of this dastardly deed.

First, let's rule out some suspects. Although October happens to be one of the hunting seasons for turkeys in Missouri, I offer my opinion that a human was not involved. Why? Well, based on the advanced state of decomposition of this body, it must have been killed long before October. It's mostly feathers and clean, white bones. Also, when humans kill turkeys, they take them home and eat them. They do not leave them on the ground. Also, this carcass is on our property, and we have never seen or heard trespassers here. The carcass is far from the nearest road, so not a roadkill.

I'll also offer my opinion that this bird did not die of old age. The spur is simply not long enough to belong to an old tom.

Could it have been an accident? Like flying into a tree trunk? Not likely. Turkeys are excellent flyers and rarely have such accidents. And they're tough birds.

Disease? Possible. Turkeys sometimes die of diseases such as avian Influenza or avian pox. However, while wild turkeys occasionally get sick, disease does not play a major role in overall wild turkey mortality. Although disease is a possible suspect, I'm ruling it out simply based on low probability.

The process of elimination leads me to a PREDATOR as the culprit. But what predator? Turkeys roost in trees at night. Therefore, the adults rarely fall prey to coyotes, bobcats, and other predators that normally hunt at night (whereas turkey eggs and flightless poults—babies—often do). However, coyotes and bobcats do sometimes hunt during the day, and they are excellent ambush hunters (they sneak up on prey and leap onto them with a sudden burst of speed), but this was in an area of forest with little cover. Besides, I did not see any broken bones—a coyote or bobcat would likely crunch some of the bones while feeding on the bird. The breast bone, in particular, would have been crunched, but you can see it is intact.

Birds of prey, on the other hand, usually just pick the meat from the bones with their razor-sharp beak, leaving the bones intact.

I could be wrong, of course, but I conclude that this bird was likely killed by a bird of prey, probably either a great horned owl, a barred owl, or a red-shouldered hawk (the only three large birds of prey that hunt in the forest around here). We have a lot of bald eagles here, but I've never seen one hunt birds in a dense forest. Considering owls hunt at night, a roosting turkey, though quite large, would be a logical prey option. Numerous barred owls live in the area, so my primary suspect is a BARRED OWL (third photo).

Do you have any suggestions that might change my conclusion? After all, what kind of sleuth would I be if I didn't listen to the opinions of others?

Photo Credits:
- Eastern turkey carcass - Stan C. Smith
- Barred owl - DepositPhoto