John James Audubon honored this bird in his celebrated Birds of America elephant folio, featuring it as the number one plate, which become the most famous of the 435 prints in the series. This plate is also highly coveted by collectors; in the early 1980s, a first edition print of the turkey was gobbled up at an auction for $12,000, one of the highest paid for such art work at that time. Audubon also honored the female and offspring of the species in plate number six, illustrating the mother lurking protectively over a tiny brood as they walk through the woods presumably foraging for food. The species was also a personal symbol for the artist; his signet ring featured an engraving of a wild turkey with his motto, "America, My Country."

Similar to the wild buffalo, wild turkeys were extremely abundant and roamed America in the millions before over-hunting and habitat destruction nearly made them extinct. At the time John James Audubon was painting them, turkeys were already scarce and hard to find in their native forest habitat, as trees were cut down for firewood and homes and the birds were consumed in abundance. Luckily Americans came to realize the significance of this bird and rallied to save it. Today there are more wild turkeys than there were in Audubon's youth!

Click here to learn more about John James Audubon and his artistic legacy.