{"id":67770,"date":"2020-04-02T05:51:52","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T11:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=67770"},"modified":"2026-01-12T19:59:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T01:59:48","slug":"smoke-phase-wild-turkey-hen-plus-a-displaying-tom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/04\/02\/smoke-phase-wild-turkey-hen-plus-a-displaying-tom\/","title":{"rendered":"Smoke Phase Wild Turkey Hen (Smoke Morph) in Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SmokeSmoke phase Wild Turkey hen – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited or called in
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

If I hadn’t have been paying attention yesterday I might have missed out on spotting a flock of turkeys in some junipers and photographing a smoke phase Wild Turkey hen. Despite how large these birds are they can blend into their preferred habitat quite easily. The turkeys were gathered at the edge of a clearing and partially in the shadows of the junipers when I first spotted them and right off the bat I could see that at least one tom was displaying.<\/p>\n

Then a flash of white caught my eyes and I found a smoke phase Wild Turkey hen among the other turkeys. I took lots of photos of her but she stayed close to the junipers and in the grasses. She is the first smoke phase Wild Turkey that I have found, pointed out, and photographed. She really stood out!<\/p>\n

What Is a Smoke Phase Wild Turkey?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A smoke phase (or smoke morph) Wild Turkey is a rare color mutation caused by a recessive gene. These turkeys appear pale gray to silvery white with darker graphite markings on the wings and tail. Smoke phase Wild Turkeys are most often hens and are uncommon in the wild, making sightings and photographs noteworthy.<\/p>\n

I hope that if I see the smoke phase turkey hen again that I will be able to get photos of her more out in the open.<\/p>\n

\"WildWild Turkey tom displaying in spring – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited or called in<\/span><\/p>\n

After spending time photographing the smoke phase hen, I also photographed several displaying Wild Turkey<\/span><\/a> toms in the same area after they emerged from the shadows of the junipers and were moving about in the grassy clearing. Like the problems I had with the smoke phase hen I struggled to get clear views of the displaying toms and the bright, winter bleached grasses from last year were an issue.<\/p>\n

I was delighted to find these turkeys and get photos of the smoke phase hen.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. Stay safe.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Wild Turkey photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If I hadn’t have been paying attention yesterday I might have missed out on spotting a flock of turkeys in some junipers and photographing a smoke phase Wild Turkey hen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":145429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1316,358,26,1314,3793],"tags":[5522,2158,779,4070,5370,4109,4359,4674,4062,3795,9471,4069,9473,8277,9472,9468,9469,9470,165,5502,3796,5501,401,3794],"class_list":["post-67770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-stansbury-mountains-utah","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","category-wild-turkeys","tag-breeding-display","tag-courtship-display","tag-displaying","tag-female","tag-forest","tag-grasses","tag-hen","tag-junipers","tag-male","tag-meleagris-gallopavo","tag-morphs","tag-mountains","tag-mutations","tag-plumage-variation","tag-recessive-genes","tag-smoke-phase","tag-smokey-phase","tag-smoky-gray-phase","tag-spring","tag-tom","tag-turkey","tag-turkeys","tag-upland-game-birds","tag-wild-turkey"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/wild-turkey-smoke-phase-hen-mia-mcpherson-9985.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-hD4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":67785,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/04\/03\/smoke-phase-wild-turkey-hen-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":67770,"position":0},"title":"Smoke Phase Wild Turkey Hen Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Someone at sometime had tossed a soda can into the junipers and the Wild Turkey hen walked right in front of it during the few seconds she was out in the open.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Smoke phase Wild Turkey hen with a soda can, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/wild-turkey-hen-smoke-phase-mia-mcpherson-1524.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/wild-turkey-hen-smoke-phase-mia-mcpherson-1524.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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McPherson","date":"April 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Three years ago by this date I was already taking Wild Turkey photos in the canyons of the sky island mountains of the West Desert of Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Displaying Wild Turkey tom in spring snow, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/wild-turkey-tom-displaying-spring-mia-mcpherson-1438.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/wild-turkey-tom-displaying-spring-mia-mcpherson-1438.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/wild-turkey-tom-displaying-spring-mia-mcpherson-1438.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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took hundreds of photos of the tom Wild Turkey fanning his tail, walking on the dirt road, strutting and displaying for the hens I could not see. 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