In towns across the United States, Wild Turkeys regularly make the news for their intimidating ways: chasing down postal workers, delivery people, and children; launching all-out attacks on parked vehicles; harassing cops who make traffic stops; and terrorizing visitors to local parks. “We’ve seen every range of situation, from birds that are just hyper aggressive to just kind-of menacing behaviors,” says David Scarpitti, a wildlife biologist at the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife whose voicemail is regularly lit up with turkey complaints. To the turkey’s many avid fans, this turnabout may seem like fair play. After all, our species has put theirs through the ringer. Due to overhunting and habitat loss, Wild Turkeys were once driven to near extinction in many regions, and only since the 1970s has an impressive reintroduction and conservation effort brought the treasured game birds back nationwide—today, they number in the millions and thrive in...