In south Salem, residents snap photographs while on walks, from their cars or while in their living rooms to help piece together the answer to a complicated question posed in a local Facebook group: What do wild turkeys do during the day?On Nov. 2, they gently clucked as they trotted through fallen leaves. A soft voice behind the camera warned them to be careful as they approached the road. The anonymous poster thanked the birds for visiting on their birthday.On Nov. 5, someone in the Pringle Creek Community captured a photo of a single turkey taunting a house cat a third of its size. The cat, ears perked and eyes wide, sat on the inside of a ground-level window as the turkey appeared aloof to the cat’s yearning. Subsequent photos and videos throughout the month, one of the most recent celebrating a South Vista Apartments visit from “8 beautiful ladies on this Thanksgiving Eve,” give headcounts and observations of the neighborhood flock.The “Spotted: South Salem Turkeys & Peacocks” Facebook page is an active online community space for Salem residents who love Salem’s large roaming birds. It recently reached 1,000 followers, and sees about ten posts a month.  The page’s founders, Natasha and Sean McAndrew, moved to south Salem in 2013. Natasha said they didn’t see turkeys much until about six years ago, when the birds began using their street as a runway to their roof so they could roost in their backyard trees every night.The branches are right near their bedroom windows, meaning the birds roost just feet away from the sleeping couple. The turkeys also make “insane sounds” every time a fire truck drives by, or someone slams a car door, McAndrew said. “They all just start talking in unison. So it can be quite annoying at night,” she said.But they leave during the day. Early on in the turkeys’ residency, her husband wanted to know where they went.He decided to make a Facebook group to see if other people could help track them.Natasha McAndrew wasn’t a fan.“I was like ‘You need to delete that now, that’s embarrassing,’” she said. He agreed to delete the page, having made one post sharing his question about the turkey’s routines.But her husband wasn’t very Facebook savvy at the time, McAndrew said, and didn’t log in often.“A month later he logs in and he’s like ‘Oh no. The page never deleted. And I have followers,’” she said, laughing.There were even a few responses to his question. Posters shared where they’d seen the flock around the Morningside neighborhood. It was enough to make McAndrew change her mind.“I was like, ‘Hey this is actually kind of fun and interesting. Let’s see how this goes,’” she said. “That’s how it started: on a complete whim by my husband, and I completely said no to it.”McAndrew wasn’t shy about it for long. Turkeys gather on the McAndrew family’s south Salem back porch. (Courtesy/ Natasha McAndrew) She started sharing the group with friends, family and neighbors and grew a modest following for the page of about 300 people in the first few years. Two Thanksgivings ago it reached 500 followers, which doubled in time for this Thanksgiving.McAndrew said it’s mostly locals, but there are some Portland-area residents and people from other states who have visited Salem and wondered about the turkeys.“It’s a silly, quirky but fun page,” McAndrew said. “I enjoy, truly on a daily basis, if someone posts it makes me super happy.” The page did ultimately answer her husband’s question, too. They know their backyard flock of turkeys stays in the area, often visiting the local Starbucks on Southeast Commercial Street. McAndrew believes her backyard flock is one of the first to settle in south Salem. Since founding the Facebook page, she said the flock has grown from about a dozen to several groups.She can tell which group is hers because of the number of males, called toms, in the group and the hens that stay with them.“We have the same-looking toms in our neighborhood. They’re just these big, beautiful, almost Voldemort-looking, their heads are very blue if you look close. We just kind of studied them over the years,” she said. Week by week, the page informed her that they were wandering a larger area, sometimes crossing Southeast Commercial Street. Two nearby retirement homes began feeding them.“The residents would come out and watch them, and it ended up almost like our local pets of our neighborhood,” she said. “I don’t know how it originated, who brought them in.”Wild turkeys aren’t native to Oregon, and were first introduced in 1961, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, as a population to hunt. Over 10,000 now live throughout the state, including in urban areas like Salem and Eugene. COLUMN: Wild turkeys, introduced as prey, settled in Oregon towns and thrived The department doesn’t track turkeys in urban areas or city limits, said Greg Reed, district wildlife biologist.“In these areas, we mostly monitor the situation based on damage complaints and observations during site visits,” he said in an email to Salem Reporter.Reed said they do get calls about nuisance turkeys from Salem, and there’s been an increase in those calls over the past few years. He said they also get a lot of complaints from Corvallis, Dallas, Philomath, Albany and Lebanon.Reed said turkey flocks tend to grow when someone’s feeding them, which can happen by accident. Turkeys will eat bird seed and cat food if it’s left out.  “Wild turkeys don’t need handouts. Feeding turkeys can lead to abnormally large flocks that can cause damage to yards and structures,” Reed said. “Please be a good neighbor with wildlife and do not intentionally feed wildlife. Feed pets inside, keep bird feeder areas clean, and pick up fallen fruit and nuts.” He said human-fed groups of turkeys can become aggressive, and large groups have a higher chance of getting sick. A hen followed by baby turkeys. (Courtesy/ Natasha McAndrew) McAndrew said she feels protective of the turkeys, and worries for their safety. She found a dead one near their yard, once, and another in the neighborhood was hit by a car. She said they feel like her pets, but that it’s a love-hate relationship.“We kind of worry about them, which is weird, but there have been times where we’re just plain annoyed of them because they poop on our patio and they’re very noisy at night,” she said. Overall, though, they’ve been a joy.She laughed recalling the occasional confrontation between a turkey and its reflection in a car door. After years of watching them, she’s learned to love the small things, like the ruffling sound their feathers make and the range of vibrant colors on them. She has dozens of videos and photographs of them socializing in her yard.Their toddler has even learned how to summon the birds with a turkey call, and can make a different call for peacocks.Peacocks started showing up in the neighborhood about two years ago, McAndrew said, and often travel with the turkeys. The McAndrews added them to the Facebook page by popular request.McAndrew described the local birds as curious and cautious. She said the Facebook group is a sign that the neighborhood enjoys them.“We’re a quirky bunch. We appreciate nature, and nature is okay being immersed into our daily lives,” she said. “Maybe Salem’s a safe place, in a way. I just know in other areas hunters or things might drive them out…. We’ll share our space with them. They’re welcome to be here.” COLUMN: The skinny on Salem’s roving wild turkeys A turkey on a south Salem street. Natasha McAndrew said she especially loves the subtle blue colors on their feathers. (Courtesy/ Natasha McAndrew) A pair of turkeys hang out on a south Salem front lawn. (Courtesy/ Natasha McAndrew) Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. 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