Citizen science, questionable intentions.

The city belongs
to the turkeys.

On the sidewalk. In the treetops. Possibly plotting.
Help Cambridge keep an eye on its most self-assured residents.

Report and map wild turkey sightings across Cambridge, Massachusetts. No need to wing it.

They have no appointments.
They own the intersection.Observations from the field

Community sightings map. Sample sightings are fictional. Submitted reports appear publicly after automated checks; photos appear only after review and approval.

↗ Click a spot in Cambridge to report a turkey.

Jump to a Cambridge landmark

500 m

Drag to pan · Pinch to zoom · ◎ Locate Me shows your position · Tap map to report a turkeyMajor streets · Cambridge GIS

REPORTED MOOD Passive/clucking Conspiratorial Ornery Outright hostility Amorous

Observe from a distance. This is an independent community project, unaffiliated with the City of Cambridge or MassWildlife. The turkeys have not consented to a personality assessment.

Inspired by Newton’s coyote map ↗

The hall of plumage

Greatest turkey photo of all time?

Explore approved photos submitted by Cambridge neighbors. Cast a vote for the bird most deserving of immortality.

Browse the gallery →

Independent fieldwork worth celebrating

Turkeys in Public Space

Jeff Fossett and Quinn Raymond's earlier project celebrates urban turkeys through extraordinary community photojournalism, art, stories, and an accompanying zine. Highly recommended.

Visit their project ↗

Field guide · facts first, then fiction

Living with turkeys

A quick Cambridge guide to sharing sidewalks with the city’s most confident pedestrians. The practical answers below link to MassWildlife, the City of Cambridge, and local reporting.

Why are there turkeys in Cambridge?

Massachusetts wild turkeys disappeared by 1851. In the early 1970s, wildlife officials reintroduced 37 birds from New York to the Berkshires. Their descendants spread; MassWildlife estimated 30,000–35,000 statewide in 2024. Urban Cambridge offers food, trees, and plenty of places to strut. [1] [2]

Are they dangerous?

Usually they are best admired from a distance, but habituated turkeys can intimidate, chase, or injure people, particularly during the March–May breeding season. A Cambridge mail carrier suffered a serious injury after a 2023 encounter. Give birds space and never feed them. [2] [5] [6]

A turkey is sizing me up. What should I do?

For a bold or aggressive turkey, MassWildlife advises you to stand your ground, keep the bird in front of you, avoid running, and make yourself look larger. Loud noises or an open umbrella can help deter it. [3] [4]

Can I feed them?

No. Feeding, including spilled birdseed, can concentrate turkeys and make them less wary of people. MassWildlife recommends removing bird feeders and using native plants to welcome smaller birds instead. [3]

Why is a turkey attacking my car or window?

It may be treating its reflection as another turkey. Cover or disguise reflective surfaces to break the standoff. [3] [4]

There’s a turkey on my roof. Is that normal?

Yes. Turkeys roost in trees and sometimes use human-made structures. If they become a nuisance, remove food attractants and follow MassWildlife’s nonlethal deterrence advice. [2] [3]

A hen is nesting in my yard. What now?

Turkey nests and eggs are legally protected. MassWildlife says you may deter a hen to encourage her to nest elsewhere, but do not handle or move eggs or an established nest. If you are unsure what to do, ask MassWildlife for guidance. [3]

Who should I call?

For an aggressive, sick, or injured wild turkey, Cambridge directs residents to the Massachusetts Environmental Police 24-hour dispatch at 800-632-8075. For other Cambridge animal concerns, contact the Cambridge Animal Commission at 617-349-4376 or [email protected]. For general wildlife advice, call MassWildlife at 508-389-6300 (weekdays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.). If a person is in immediate danger, call 911. Submitting a sighting here does not notify any agency. [3] [4] [7]

What the Turkeys Don’t Want You to Know

Satire, not wildlife advice. Unverified field intelligence; please do not cite the cabal.

What are they actually doing out there?

Surveillance. That aimless scratching along Huron Avenue? Grid search. Biologists call it a pecking order; we call it a chain of command.

Why do they stop traffic on Mass Ave?

Mass Ave connects both campuses. They have mapped the crosswalks, and they are timing the lights.

Why do they peck at windows?

The official explanation is territorial confusion. The unofficial explanation is a one-way-glass audit of Kendall Square.

Who’s in charge?

Unconfirmed. Persistent sightings near the Law School suggest an active legal division.

What if one approaches me?

Follow the real guidance above. They respect preparation. They are also taking notes.

Could this intelligence be misused by ICE or Tyson Foods?

Fret not. I've done my due diligence and combed the state statutes and municipal edicts. I'm pleased to report that our turkeys enjoy substantial statutory protection!

Massachusetts permits wild turkey hunting with the appropriate licenses and permits, during designated seasons, and subject to limits on the number that may be taken. Cambridge prohibits ordinary firearm discharge within city limits; state rules also prohibit discharging firearms or arrows within 150 feet of state or hard-surfaced highways and generally restrict hunting within 500 feet of an occupied building, with exceptions.

I'm reasonably certain that encompasses approximately ALL of Cambridge.

(N.B. If you encounter a turkey outside one of these protected zones, please encourage it to relocate toward the nearest occupied building. Roads confer certain legal protections but introduce an entirely different set of hazards. This is satire, not advice to herd wildlife.)

Ultimately, I cannot guarantee that Tyson Foods isn't studying the map with an eye toward turning Cambridge into a vertically integrated, locally sourced poultry operation.

What I can assure you is that such an undertaking would encounter formidable regulatory and taxatory burdens.

Real-world caveat: public sighting locations are public information; wildlife hunting restrictions cannot guarantee how anyone might use them. See MassWildlife's hunting rules.

What do we name them?

I must gently challenge the anthropocentric privilege implicit in your question.

Who appointed us the naming authority? We are all sentient beings sharing this small corner of the planet we call Cambridge. What gives Homo sapiens the right to bestow names upon Meleagris gallopavo?

If anything, given their demonstrably superior command of our sidewalks, shouldn't they be naming us?

For all we know, they already have. And I suspect the names aren't particularly flattering.

When will you expand to Somerville or Brookline?

In response to the deluge of requests to expand into neighboring municipalities, let me clarify the scope of this enterprise.

I have already spent $8.50 registering cambridgeturkeywatch.org, to say nothing of the branding, marketing, and painstaking development of our internationally unrecognized behavioral taxonomy. The suggestion that I should spend another $8.50 on cambervilleturkeywatch.org is fiscally reckless.

Moreover, what turkeys do in other precincts is, quite frankly, none of my concern. We are attempting to assess avian disposition under reasonably consistent conditions.

Requiring the subjects to reside in Somerville, or worse, Brookline, would introduce profound geographic confounding. I shudder to think how strongly those circumstances would skew our results toward ornery or outright hostile.

This is a Cambridge study. We must preserve scientific rigor, even if we cannot demonstrate any.

Sources and further reading

For the humans nominally in charge

Contact the Flock Keeper

Something amiss in the flock? Request a correction or removal, report a technical problem, or send us other turkey-related correspondence. This is not an animal-control or emergency service.

Send a message

The city belongsto the turkeys.

The flock, mapped

Greatest turkey photo of all time?

Turkeys in Public Space

Living with turkeys

Contact the Flock Keeper

The city belongs
to the turkeys.