Meriam's Hybrid?

[Marc]

I am hunting in California, and there were a variety of birds transplanted here...

Mostly Rio's with some Easterns and a few Merriam's.

Apparently we do have some fairly genetically pure Merriam's in parts of the state, and while I am hunting down around the 2000 ft level, we do have (by rumor) a small population of Merriams up a bit higher (probably within 30-40 miles as the "turkey flies").

Most of the birds I have killed look like typical Rio's, and have killed one that looked to be more Eastern...

This season I killed this bird, and it has been remarked that it really looks like a Merriam's...  I think there is possibly a bit of hybrid in this bird...  Do you all think this is just a color variation of a Rio, or does he have a bit of Merriam's in him?

turkey2019-11 by Marc Sorsky, on Flickr

[Yoteduster]

I'd say he has alot of merriam's in him

[Hooksfan]

I am no authority on Merriams...only killed a handful of them, but I would say there is a high likelihood that is a hybrid. Even pure Merriams are not always pure white. Rios also tend to have copper irridescence in their breast feathers. Pure Merriams have less and appear darker in their breast feathers.
At any rate, he is a beautiful bird. Congrats.  My son killed a beautiful Rio/Eastern hybrid bird on a youth hunt in KS a few years back.

[Spurs Up]

Beautiful bird!  Has characteristics many would attribute to Merriams. Absent genetic testing and maybe then still, he can be pretty much whatever you want and claim him to be. Well, maybe not an Osceola. There's lots of variation among individuals in size, color and shape no matter where you are, but especially outside of traditional range and where turkeys have been transplanted and mixed from different parts of the US. None of them are pure.  If I had to, I'd just call him a "dirty blonde."

[tomstopper]

Nice one. Congrats

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[joey46]

Nice bird!  So few post from CA.  Glad to see one.

[Waynesworld23]

Beautiful bird And very nice picture

[Yoder409]

Sure favors a Merriam's pretty hard.   Yep.

Hard to tell in that pic if his breast feathers have that green Merriam's glow.

CONGRATS on a fine bird !!!

[Marc]

Thank you all for the kind replies...

Merriam's are on my list...  Partly due to the bird itself, and partly due to the landscape to hunt them in. 

I had one more bird to tag out, and this boy came in with another bird (both looked similar as far as body size and beard length), and I picked the "pretty one."

We do have some Merriam's up above the area I am hunting, and we had an unusually "snowy" winter, and it could be that some Merriam's turkeys were pushed down into the valley???

He was shot early in the morning, and the sun was just breaking the horizon when I snapped the photos.  I did not even think to look at the breast feathers for the iridescent green.

I have killed some birds with darker fans (looking more similar to eastern's) but have not before killed such a blond Rio...  I have the fan drying, and will keep this one.  It appears the consensus is that the bird is likely at least partially Merriam's...  So a first for me (that I know of).

[Gooserbat]

The "white" bird is a Rio from Central Oklahoma. The other is an Eastern from Missouri.  There's blonds in every race.

[Tomfoolery]

What did his gobble sound like?

[Marc]

What did his gobble sound like?

It did not sound unusual... 

I knew there were two birds gobbling, and neither stood out to me.  Only thing that stood out were the white tips as they were going in and out of strut.  They were walking together, and I kept my eye on the "blond," and when they separated I did not hesitate...  At all...

Knowing that there was something "special" about the bird did increase the excitement level a bit...  Not sure what I would have done had I seen 1.5" spurs on the other bird???  That would have been a conundrum for me, but I probably would have shot "spurs."

[idgobble]

Idaho hybrids.

[mudhen]

Heinz 57 bird!

Nice hybrid tom!

[GobbleNut]

Regardless of the parentage, that is a beautiful gobbler, Marc!
Doubtful that it is a pure Merriam's, but it sure looks the part.  If you want to have a clearer idea, look at the iridescence in the rump feathers right below the white band.  If there is ANY evidence of a copper/gold sheen in that band, it is a hybrid (or perhaps an unusually-colored Rio).  If the sheen is silver/black without the hint of copper/gold, it actually could be a pure Merriam's.

My guess is you will see that copper sheen in the iridescence, however...