Turkeys, Watching People, Watching Turkeys

Chloe De Freitas

When we first moved into our apartment, we were delighted to discover there were a number of resident bush turkeys that helped landscape the garden. We soon found that this maintenance extended to our balcony, as one of the turkeys seemed to particularly enjoy digging out my succulents and standing in the pots. When I elevated them up on a stand, she simply jumped up and scratched about in those, much to the same effect.

In fact, this cheeky bird, will investigate anything left out (shoes are a particular favourite of hers, as she likes to turn them over, stick her head in the hole, or drag them around for a bit). Although other turkeys occasionally jump into our little balcony area to drink the fresh water we leave for them, they don’t seem all that interested in shoes or pot plants.

At the end of each day she likes to sit on the balcony and hang out with a couple of friends, watching us for a couple of minutes before jumping down to find somewhere to roost for the night. The presence of these funny birds brings a great amount of joy to our lives—we enjoy watching them watch us.