San Diego Zoo Safari Park​ Puts Spotlight On Unique Turkey Ahead Of Thanksgiving

SAN DIEGO, CA — The San Diego Zoo Safari Park is redefining Turkey Day by putting a spotlight on a turkey you won't find on Thanksgiving: the ocellated turkey.

The Safari Park has worked with ocellated turkeys periodically since the 1970s.

"These beautiful birds are increasingly rare to find at zoos, and prior to this female ocellated turkey hatching in 2023, the last chick to hatch at the Safari Park was 17 years ago," said Amanda Martinez, a spokesperson with San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, a nonprofit conservation organization that operates the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park.

Ocellated turkeys have iridescent feathers and an elaborate courtship display.

The word "ocellated" comes from the Latin word "ocellus," meaning "little eye," and refers to eye-like circular markings found on animals. Ocellated turkeys will fan out their feathers during courtship displays to attract mates or assert dominance, making these circular markings visible, Martinez explained. This behavior also intimidates rivals or deters predators by appearing larger in size.

"While this female turkey does not have a name, she certainly has a personality," Martinez said about the pictured ocellated turkey. "She can sometimes be sassy and bold and will even vocalize and fan out her feathers to show dominance."

The Safari Park recently welcomed a 3-year-old male ocellated turkey from a partnering organization, making another hatch on the horizon a possibility, Martinez noted.

Ocellated turkeys are endemic to the Yucatán Peninsula in southeastern Mexico, as well as parts of northern Belize and northern Guatemala.

Threats to this species include habitat loss and defragmentation, hunting and poaching, climate change, predation in the wild, and human-wildlife conflict. They are listed as "near threatened" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.