Residents of an East Lake community are flocking to a new friend – a beautiful bird.

That's bringing a lot of turkey talk to the Ridgemoor area of Palm Harbor.

"I call him Haliburton, actually," one resident told Spectrum Bay News 9.

"We heard that he’s looking for his lady turkey that he lost," another neighbor said.

If these residents are right, he's looking for love in all the wrong places – in traffic, in the woods, and down every neighborhood street.

"If he makes his way about a mile-and-a-half, there’s a whole bunch of lady turkeys down there," one resident said.

In the meantime…

"It was trying to evade everybody and trying to chase the cars around," said Mike Stallings, who works in the area.

But it is close to mating season. Conservation advocate, Kim Begay, who is vice president of Clearwater Audubon Society thinks she knows why this turkey is traveling solo.

"I’m thinking that this could be the one that got kicked out. He’s the non-dominant male that is on the outside of the flock right now," Begay explained.

She just hopes people aren’t feeding the wild bird.

"It will create all kinds of problems," Begay said. "It will start having his behavior affected, and it will make him not want to go back to his flock."

There is concern, though, that he’ll keep flocking to cars.
"It was pecking at the cars and looking inside at the people," said Stallings.

"He'll look in the reflection and peck at the reflection when he's doing that. He's thinking that's another male turkey, and he doesn't want him there," said Begay.

That's why those working and living in the area are encouraged to leave the turkey to find his love and food, and admire him from afar.

"It’s the most beautiful turkey I’ve ever seen," said Stallings.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission offers these tips for when people encounter a wild turkey that appears to be losing its fear of people. FWC says to:

• Chase them (without making physical contact) while doing the following:
• Waving your arms or clapping your hands and yelling at them
• Making loud noises using an air horn or banging pots and pans
• Spraying with a a hose
• Waving or swatting at (but not hitting) with a broom
• Opening a large umbrella while facing them
• Allowing a large dog on a leash to bark and scare them

FWC says, while it may seem cruel to haze the birds, it’s helps instill a natural fear of people – and that’s a good thing. Also, it’s important never to feed wild birds.

If you have questions or are experiencing conflicts with wild turkeys in your neighborhood, contact your local FWC regional office.

To report an emergency situation involving aggressive wild turkeys, call the Wildlife Alert hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).