The Ocellated Wild Turkey

The Ocellated or 'Eyed' Turkey - The Ocellated Wild Turkey - Meleagris ocellata or Agriocharis ocellata

A native of north east South America, the ocellated turkey ranges from Mexico through much of Belize and Guatemala occupying scrubland terrain and known locally as Ocelado, Pavo or Ucutz il chican.

The Ocellated turkey is a significantly smaller lightweight relative of the North American wild turkey and is hunted for its meat but has never successfully been domesticated, even when the Spanish Conquistadores took birds back to Europe. It gets its name from the tail feather eye spots or "ocelli" of shimmering greenish blue circled with metallic bronze in the tail feathers present in the male and female bird, along similar lines to a peacock, but not as impressive. Ocellated turkeys also have an obvious bright red coloured skin eye-ring, especially visible on adult males during the breeding season. Similar barring is apparent on primary and secondary wing feathers in a similar fashion to the North American turkeys'. The secondary wing feathers contain slightly more white colour, particularly on the leading outer edges.