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France is celebrated for its culture, but it also has a wild side.

In the Balkan Peninsula, ancient forests and vast wetlands harbor pristine wilderness.

Discover the wildlife of Florida and how experts are battling threats to its ecosystems.

Adapting some animal behaviors benefits man in body, mind and spirit.

Explore how newly established wildlife corridors offer hope to endangered species.

Wild Turkeys have the word “wild” in their name to distinguish them from the birds that have been domesticated for centuries and bred for their meat and feathers. Florida is one of the prime native homes for Wild Turkeys although they now occur in almost every state as a result of introductions and other conservation efforts. They also occur naturally well into Latin America – where the first domesticated turkeys were found by early explorers and taken back to Europe. There were so few that they were not regularly eaten, but kept for special occasions – such as our Thanksgiving and other holidays. Wild Turkeys are related to pheasants, quails, and yes, even jungle fowl (the wild ancestors of our chickens). Males are easily distinguished from females by the black tips of breast and back feathers on males and brown to buff tips of the same feathers of females. Males are also generally larger than females. Males have spurs on their back of their legs; females only occasionally have spurs.

Wild Turkeys are birds that most of us know on sight because of their large size, habit of foraging in groups in relatively open areas, and the display of a male with his tail held up and fanned. Of course we know them because of their prominence at our holiday dinner tables – and in holiday advertising -- especially at Thanksgiving. Males are larger than females – even when not “puffed up” and displaying. Males also have iridescent plumage, multiple colors on their mostly bare head and neck, and a prominent fleshy structure called a snood on the forehead that becomes enlarged and more colorful during interactions. Females are smaller, have duller, non-iridescent plumage, only a blue-gray head and neck, and a smaller, less colorful snood. Studies suggest that females prefer males with longer snoods and that the snood may indicate a resistance to some diseases.In this week’s Wild Things we’ll talk a bit about the behavior and ecology of Wild Turkeys, the origins of their name, and our relationship with them.

A team of researchers' study suggests that COVID-19 health leaders incorporate exercise into their mitigation strategies.

Justice Department officials say Apple hampered their investigation by refusing to unlock the gunman's iPhones. The case is part of a longstanding debate over national security interests and privacy.

There was a time when many thought the Internet was beyond government regulation, its very chaos a source of creativity and strength. Nate Anderson's The Internet Police looks at how law enforcement went about changing that.