Turkey Coloring Pages – 32 Strutting Toms and Feather Fans

A wild turkey is a handsome bird, and these 32 pages give you the real thing to color. You will find strutting toms with fanned tails, hens walking through a meadow, fuzzy poults, and a few silly birds for fun. There are also Thanksgiving tables, handprint turkeys for the youngest artists, and feather and acorn pages for quiet afternoons. Pick a sheet, grab your browns and bronzes, and see what kind of turkey you make.

32 Turkey Coloring Pages to Print

All 32 turkey coloring pages are free and printable. Click any picture to open the PDF, which is sized for A4 paper and ready to print at home. The range is wide, from very easy sheets with one big bird to detailed feather patterns and busy Thanksgiving scenes for patient colorists.

Wild Turkeys

Wild Tom Turkey with Fanned Tail

A male wild turkey stands in side view with his tail fanned out behind him, and two maple leaves drift in the corners. He has a wattled neck, a beard hanging from his chest and scalloped body feathers. The fan’s many small sections suit patient coloring.

Turkey Head Portrait

A close-up portrait of a turkey’s head and neck, turned to look up toward a plain circle in the corner. The skin is bumpy and wrinkled, a long wattle hangs beside the curved beak, and rows of scalloped feathers fill the bottom. This one has fine, dense detail, so it suits older colorers.

Turkey Walking Through a Meadow with Butterfly

A turkey strides across a grassy meadow with its fanned tail raised behind it, while a butterfly hovers in front of its beak. Two clouds, rolling hills and scattered grass tufts fill the background, and the big, open shapes are easy to color.

Strutting Tom Turkey with Two Hens

A tom turkey faces the viewer with his tail spread in a large fan, while two hens with slender necks watch from the right. Two trees, bushy hedges and grass tufts fill the woodland background. The fan’s rows of feathers take several shades.

Turkey with Four Tail Feathers and Maple Leaves

A standing turkey looks to the left with a wide eye, a hooked beak and a wattle, while four long feathers with banded tips spread behind its back. Two maple leaves with branching veins sit in the top and bottom corners. The scalloped body feathers and striped legs give the bird plenty of texture.

Turkey Perched on an Oak Branch

A tom turkey stands on a thick oak branch with its tail fanned out behind and one wing half-spread. Lobed oak leaves hang at the top and lower right, and a low sun sits over distant hills. The fan’s banded feathers and the bark’s rough lines offer a lot of fine detail.

Turkey Foraging for Acorns in the Forest

Bent low over the forest floor, a tom turkey with a fanned tail eyes a small beetle next to three acorns. Oak leaves cover the ground, and ferns and two tree trunks fill the background. The large, open feather shapes in the fan are easy to color.

Turkey Families

Turkey with Fanned Tail and Poult

A large turkey with a fanned tail stands beside a small fluffy poult, and two outlined clouds float above them. The big bird’s scalloped chest feathers and scaly, striped legs contrast with the poult’s soft, rounded body. The wide tail sections are open shapes that suit broad color areas.

Turkey Leading Five Poults Along a Path

Five poults of shrinking size walk in a line behind a large turkey with a fanned tail, all heading right along a dirt path. Grass tufts, a scalloped hedge line and a striped field fill the background. The poults’ simple round bodies are quick to fill in.

Turkey and Hatching Poult in a Nest

A tom turkey with a fanned tail looks down at a newly hatched poult peeking out of a cracked eggshell in a woven straw nest with three speckled eggs. A leafy tree, two daisy-like flowers and grass tufts frame the scene. The nest’s dense straw strokes are fine work, while the big scalloped body is easy going.

Turkey Flock at the Forest Edge

A tom turkey with a fanned tail faces four hens and four small poults on a grassy clearing. Behind them are scalloped bushes, tall trees and rolling hills under a rayed sun. The big scene has a lot of small areas, so it suits older colorists.

Four Sleeping Turkeys on a Night Branch

Four turkeys sit side by side on a thick tree branch with their heads tucked into their wing feathers and their tails fanned out behind them. A crescent moon and three stars fill the sky above, and a few leaves hang from the twig at the right. The layered wing scallops and the banded tail fans call for patience.

Handprint Turkeys

Handprint Turkey with Finger Feathers

A turkey whose body and four finger-shaped tail feathers form the outline of a spread hand, with a head, wattle and beak on the right. It stands on striped legs between two maple leaves. The large, empty body is the easiest part of the sheet.

Handprint Turkey with Patterned Feathers

Four finger-shaped tail feathers carry different patterns: diagonal stripes, circles, wavy lines and hearts. The turkey stands in profile on scaly, three-toed feet, inside a border of small leaves. The wing is drawn as overlapping scallops.

Boy Pinning Handprint Turkeys to a Classroom Board

A smiling boy stands at a bulletin board with a wavy border and pins up one of eight handprint turkey drawings. Beside him are a window, a potted plant, and a shelf holding books, a pencil cup and a storage box. The room has many small areas, so this scene suits a patient colorer.

Children Tracing a Hand into a Turkey

A boy and a girl sit at a table while the boy traces the girl’s spread hand on a sheet of paper with a crayon. Beside the paper stands a finished handprint turkey with patterned finger feathers, and behind them are a four-pane window and a potted leafy plant.

Handprint Turkey on a Folded Greeting Card

A folded card stands on a table line, showing a turkey whose body and head grow out of a traced hand, with scalloped lines on four finger feathers. A pumpkin, two maple leaves and three hearts surround it. The large open shapes are easy to color.

Thanksgiving Scenes

Roast Turkey Holiday Dinner Table

A whole roast turkey with two drumsticks sits on an oval platter edged with leaves and berries. Around it on the table are a bowl of mashed potatoes, two berry bowls and a scalloped pumpkin pie. Two candles, two chairs and a curtained window with clouds fill the background. The berries and leaves are small, so they need a sharp pencil.

Harvest Cornucopia with Pumpkins and Grapes

A woven cornucopia lies on its side and spills out three ribbed pumpkins, three apples, two grape bunches and two ears of corn, with maple leaves floating above and tucked around the base. The ridged horn and the tiny grape and corn kernels make this a sheet for patient hands.

Grandmother and Girl Rolling Pie Dough

A smiling grandmother in glasses and an apron helps a girl with a ponytail roll out a round of scalloped dough on a kitchen counter. A ribbed pumpkin sits beside them, and a four-pane window and a shelf with a lidded jar and bowl fill the background. The faces and hair have fine lines, but the apron, dough and pumpkin are large, open areas.

Family Backyard Football Game

A laughing boy reaches up to catch a laced football while a man, a woman with a ponytail and a fluffy puppy with its tongue out run alongside him. A house with a porch and two round-crowned trees frame the lawn, which is dotted with grass tufts. The puppy’s shaggy fur needs a bit of patience, but the shirts and shorts are large, open shapes.

Giant Turkey Balloon Parade with Drummers

A huge turkey balloon with a fanned tail floats above a city street, held by ropes that two children and three young drummers in plumed hats hold. Waving kids line the barriers in front of tall buildings. The scalloped tail feathers and the big balloon body are large, open shapes, while the drum patterns and crowd faces are finer.

Grandparents Arriving with Pie and Flowers

Seen from behind, a boy and a girl with a ponytail run with open arms toward their grandparents at a front door. The grandfather carries a lattice-topped pie and the grandmother holds a big bouquet. A scalloped wreath with a bow and a wall lantern hang behind them. The pie crust and the flower petals take a little patience, but the clothes are large, open areas.

Family Hanging Leaves on a Thankful Tree

A smiling woman, a boy and a girl with a hair bow hang paper maple leaves on a bare branch arrangement standing in a tall vase. Behind them, a four-pane window shows puffy clouds. The long wavy hair and the thin branches take some patience, while the vase and the clothes are large, open areas.

Funny Turkeys

Disguised Turkey with Glasses and Mustache

A standing turkey wears an upside-down bucket as a hat, big round glasses and a curly mustache, with its tail fanned out behind it. Two puffy clouds float in the sky above. The striped tail feathers and the scalloped chest are the most detailed parts, while the hat and the clouds are big, open shapes.

Dancing Turkey by the Barn at Sunrise

A cheerful tom turkey kicks up one leg mid-dance, wings spread and beak open in song. Three music notes float overhead, a board-and-batten barn stands on the left, and a sun rises over a hill on the right. The fanned tail is split into rows of curved segments, while the barn, sun and body are large open areas.

Turkey Band on a Hay Wagon

Four turkeys perform on a wooden hay wagon: one plays a trumpet, one beats a snare drum, one strums a banjo, and a singer stands at the back with its wings spread. A barn with an X-braced door and two round trees fill the background. The wagon’s spoked wheels and the straw are fine, dense detail, while the barn and trees are simpler areas.

Turkey Diving Into a Leaf Pile

A turkey has dived headfirst into a big heap of maple leaves, leaving only its fanned tail and two striped legs sticking out. A picket fence and a scalloped tree stand behind it, and seven more leaves drift through the air. The leaf pile is dense, small-shape work, while the tail’s five broad feathers are easy, open areas.

Turkey Sharing Acorns with Squirrel and Fawn

A turkey with a fanned tail hands an acorn to a squirrel who holds a second acorn, while a spotted fawn lies beside them in a forest clearing. Two trees with scalloped crowns, two clouds and tufts of grass frame the scene. The squirrel and fawn are simple, open shapes, but the tail’s many narrow segments call for patience.

Feather Patterns

Turkey Feather and Oak Leaf Wreath

Six oak leaves alternate with six striped turkey feathers in a ring around an empty circle in the center. Each feather has a center quill and curved cross bands, and each leaf has branching veins. The empty middle leaves room for a name or a drawing of your own.

Tom Turkey with Acorn and Oak Leaf Tail

A standing tom turkey seen from the side, its tall fanned tail split into panels that hold oak leaves, acorns and spiral swirls. Scalloped chest feathers, a long wing with its own leaf and swirl, and scaly, clawed feet complete the bird. The tail panels are roomy, while the wing and chest scallops call for a finer hand.

Front-Facing Turkey with Feather Fan Tail

A turkey stands facing the viewer on clawed feet, its round body framed by a wide tail fan in three rings of rounded feathers. The outer feathers carry curved bands, the inner ones leaf-like veins, and the chest has a small tuft of feathers below the wattle.

Fun Facts About Turkeys

Wild Turkeys in the Woods

The wild turkey comes from North America, including the United States and Mexico. It lives in forests and along their edges, where it eats acorns, nuts, seeds, berries, and insects. That is why you will find an oak leaf and a few acorns on some of our pages.

Wild turkeys are better athletes than most people expect. They run fast, and they can fly short distances with quick wingbeats. At night they sleep up in the trees, which is called roosting, because it is safer up there than on the ground.

Gobblers, Hens, and Poults

The male is known as a tom or a gobbler, named for his famous gobble call. The hen is quieter and makes soft clucks and peeps. When a tom shows off, he spreads his tail into a big fan, and the bare skin on his head and neck can change color.

Young turkeys are called poults. A group of turkeys is a flock, and you may also hear it called a rafter. Look for the small, striped poults with long legs and short tails in the Turkey Families section.

Names, Franklin, and Thanksgiving

The English name “turkey” is usually explained as a mix-up with the guinea fowl, which reached England by way of Turkey. The German word Truthahn has nothing to do with the country.

In 1784, Benjamin Franklin wrote to his daughter that the turkey was more respectable than the bald eagle. From that letter grew the legend that he wanted the turkey as the national bird. He never officially proposed it.

In the United States, Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November. President Lincoln declared it a national holiday in 1863, and since 1941 the date has been set by law. A roast turkey is on the table in most homes, which is why the bird and the holiday go together so well.

How to Print and Color These Pages

Click the picture of the sheet you like to open the PDF. Each page is sized for A4, so choose “Fit to page” or “Actual size” in your print dialog and keep the orientation as it opens. If your printer uses letter paper, fit to page will still work well.

Plain printer paper is fine for crayons and colored pencils. If you plan to use markers, watercolors, or paint, choose a heavier sheet or cardstock so the color does not soak through. Print one copy first to check the lines, then print extras of your favorites for a second try.

Here is how to choose a sheet by age:

• Toddlers and preschoolers: the simple pages with one large bird and thick, open shapes.
• Kindergarten: the handprint turkeys, where you trace your own hand and turn the thumb into a head and the fingers into feathers.
• Grade school: the family scenes and Thanksgiving tables, which have more to color and more to talk about.
• Older kids and adults: the feather patterns and detailed wild toms, which reward slow, careful shading.

Crafts Using Your Colored Pages

• Thanksgiving place cards: cut out a colored turkey, fold a small card for a stand, and write each guest’s name on the tail.
• Feather collage: color a few feather sheets in copper, green, and gold, cut them into single feathers, and glue them fanning out behind a turkey body.
• Gratitude garland: write one thing you are thankful for on the back of each colored turkey, punch a hole in the top, and string them along a ribbon.
• Classroom flock: have every student color one bird, then mount them all on a bulletin board as a rafter of turkeys.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are these turkey coloring pages really free?

Yes. You can print as many copies as you need for home or class at no cost. Just click a picture to open the PDF and send it to your printer.

What age are these pages for?

There is something for nearly everyone. Toddlers do well with the single big birds, kindergartners enjoy the handprint turkeys, and grade schoolers like the family and Thanksgiving scenes. The detailed feather patterns suit older kids and adults.

Which colors are correct for a wild turkey?

A wild tom has dark brown to bronze feathers with a copper, green, and gold shine. His tail feathers are brown with a light band at the tip. His head is blue and white, and his neck and wattle are red. A hen is plainer, in dull brown and gray.

How can I tell a tom from a hen when coloring?

The tom is larger, with a bare head and neck, a soft snood above the beak, a wattle, and a tuft of bristly feathers called a beard on his chest. The hen is smaller and slimmer, with a less bare neck, and usually has no beard.

Can I use bright or silly colors?

Absolutely. On the handprint turkeys and the funny turkey pages, anything goes. Purple feathers, rainbow tails, and polka dots are all welcome.

Can I use these pages in the classroom?

Yes. They work well for Thanksgiving week, for lessons about birds and habitats, and for quiet activity time. Print a mix of easy and detailed sheets so every student finds one that fits.

Matthew Matthysen( Drawing and Painting Artist )

Matthew Matthysen is an educated multidisciplinary artist and illustrator. He successfully completed his art degree at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, majoring in art history and contemporary drawing. The focus of his thesis was to explore the philosophical implications of the macro and micro-universe on the human experience. Matthew uses diverse media, such as written and hands-on components, to explore various approaches that are on the border between philosophy and science.

Matthew organized various exhibitions before and during his years as a student and is still passionate about doing so today. He currently works as a freelance artist and writer in various fields. He also has a permanent position at a renowned online gallery (ArtGazette) where he produces various works on commission. As a freelance artist, he creates several series and successfully sells them to galleries and collectors. He loves to use his work and skills in various fields of interest.

Matthew has been creating drawing and painting tutorials since the relaunch in 2020. Through his involvement with artincontext.org, he has been able to deepen his knowledge of various painting mediums. For example, watercolor techniques, calligraphy and lately digital drawing, which is becoming more and more popular.

Learn more about Matthew Matthysen and the Art in Context Team.