Turkeys are native to the Americas, specifically North and parts of Central America. Wild turkeys originally ranged from southern Canada throughout much of the United States and into central and southern Mexico and the Yucatán region.

Quick Scoop

  • The wild turkey (the ancestor of domestic turkeys) is native only to North America.
  • A second species, the ocellated turkey, is native to the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico and nearby Guatemala and Belize.
  • Turkeys were later taken to Europe and the rest of the world by traders in the 1500s, which is why they are now common far outside their native range.

A tiny story twist

Early European settlers were surprised to find wild turkeys already living across forests and fields in what is now the eastern United States, long before the birds became a holiday symbol. From those wild flocks, domesticated turkeys spread globally—but their roots are still firmly in the woods and scrublands of the Americas.

TL;DR: When asking “where are turkeys native to,” the answer is: the Americas—especially North America and the Yucatán/Central American region—not the country of Turkey.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.