June 2026 Natural Mystery Answered

We did not receive any correct answers for our June Natural Mystery. Everyone who wrote in identified this as a bird track—but the identity of this bird proved illusive. Typically, size is one of the best clues we have for identifying bird tracks. But occasionally, this can lead us astray…

These are the tracks of a turkey poult, (Meleagris gallopavo, Jr.)

Let's walk through the evidence together to see how we can come to this ID.

To start, we can categorize this as a game bird track – a track with three prominent forward -acing toes and a much smaller rear-facing toe (hallux). This track type is found in upland game birds; wading shorebirds; cranes, rails and their relatives; vultures; and nightjars. Among these groups, cranes, rails, and wading shorebirds all have smooth toes – not segmented, bulbous toes as we see here. Nightjar tracks are much smaller; and turkey vultures have a distinctively long central toe (toe 3), longer and narrower claws, and a different shaped palm pad.

This leaves us with upland game birds. The upland game birds we might find in or around the Twin Cities Metro include ruffed grouse, pheasant, domestic chicken, and wild turkey. The photo was taken on the Axle von Bergen trail at Ft. Snelling, where turkeys are common, pheasants are extraordinary rare, grouse are unheard of, and chickens would be... well... lost.

These tracks measure about 4 cm (1½ in) long – much smaller than the published ranges for turkeys of 9 – 12.5 cm (3½ – 5 in).  But these tracks are actually smaller than we would expect for any of the regions upland game birds. We expect grouse tracks to measure 4.5 – 5.5 cm (1¾ – 2⅛ in), pheasant  to be 5 - 7.5 cm (2 - 3 in), and domestic chicken to come in around 7.5 - 9 cm (3 – 3½ in).

The toes on these tracks are quite robust. More so than in pheasant, and even more so that we would expect to see in a grouse. Although the size does not fit the typical parameters, the track morphology is a good match for turkey. In southern Minnesota, turkeys typically hatch between mid-May and mid-June. This photo was taken on June 21 – right at the time we could expecting small poults.

Given the location and the timing, all the evidence points to these being the tracks of a very young turkey.

Thanks again to Kirsten Welge for providing us with this Natural Mystery, and thanks again to everyone who submitted an answer.