Here’s a bit of a curiosity: a raft of at least 20 wild turkeys just enjoying the sunset over Blue Hill Bay on Saturday evening. They soon flew into the nearby trees to roost for the night.
A group of Turkeys is called a “raft,” originally meaning a large collection of the same things (e.g. a raft of logs). The word was derived from the Middle English “raf,” which also meant a large collection and evolved into such words as riffraff and rafters. (Some publishers of funny group names have incorrectly called a group of turkeys a “rafter.”)
And yes, although wild turkeys spend their days as sauntering nomads, they usually protect themselves at night by sleeping in trees. The exception is brooding hens, which will incubate their eggs in a ground nest in the spring and stay with their poults until the little things can fly to bed. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on November 20, 2021.)