Photos: North Carolina Hunter Bags Rare White Turkey

Have you ever seen a white turkey before? Jacob Johnston of Traphill, North Carolina recently posted this picture of a stunningly white turkey on Facebook, which he claims was harvested on the morning of the season opener.

“We had seen it several times over the past couple of months. It was usually with a small group of other gobblers, but it was the only white one. Every time we saw that bird, it was about 2 miles away from my family’s farm, so I didn’t really think I’d get the chance to shoot it,” Johnston told the North Carolina Sportsman.

The hunter confirmed that it was not an albino bird, since it had a black beard and dark eyes, but could not explain what gave the bird its unique colors. Albino and leucistic turkeys, just like any other wild animal, are quite rare and generally do not survive into adulthood. According to some experts, as few as one in 100,000 turkeys will display a predominantly white color. It is not known how rare a pure white one like this one is.

Sometimes an escaped domesticated turkey is often mistaken for an albino. At a distance, they can be difficult to tell apart. You can see an example of a white turkey below:

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