Zelda was a female

wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an Upland game bird, upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of Turkey (bird), turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic ...

that lived at the Battery, a park in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, between mid-2003 and c. September 26, 2014. Although flocks of wild turkeys are more common in the city's greener parts (including

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

Pelham Bay Park Pelham Bay Park is a public park, municipal park located in the northeast corner of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. It is, at , the largest public park in New York City. The park is more than three times the siz ...

and

Van Cortlandt Park Van Cortlandt Park is a park located in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, it is managed with assistance from the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance. The park, the city's third-lar ...

and Staten Island's South Beach Psychiatric Hospital) due to the ban on hunting, Zelda was believed to be the only one in Manhattan. Previous Manhattan turkeys included

Giuliani Giuliani is an Italian family name, which can refer to: * Carlo Giuliani, who died during the demonstrations against 2001 G8 * Carlo Giuliani (bishop), died 1663, bishop of Ston * François Giuliani, (1938–2009) Algerian journalist and publicis ...

(at Riverside Park; this turkey may have actually been Zelda due to her appearance coinciding with Zelda's migration) and Hedda Gobbler (at Morningside Park).

Life and death

Zelda was named after

Zelda Fitzgerald Zelda Fitzgerald (; July 24, 1900 – March 10, 1948) was an American novelist, painter, dancer, and socialite. Born in Montgomery, Alabama, she was noted for her beauty and high spirits, and was dubbed by her husband F. Scott Fitzgerald a ...

, because (according to legend) during one of Zelda Fitzgerald's

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

s, she went missing and was found in Battery Park, apparently having walked several miles downtown. It is presumed that Zelda (the turkey) entered Manhattan's north end from the Bronx in 2002 as a wild turkey fitting her description was first spotted in Riverside Park and then near the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

and

Tavern on the Green Tavern on the Green is an American cuisine restaurant in Central Park in Manhattan, New York City, near the intersection of Central Park West and West 66th Street on the Upper West Side. The restaurant, housed in a former sheepfold, has been op ...

. She continued to make her way downtown before finally settling in Battery Park. She occasionally wandered from the park, possibly in search of a mate. Each summer she left the park to nest and lay unfertilized eggs. In 2004 she was seen in

Tribeca Tribeca (), originally written as TriBeCa, is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Its name is a syllabic abbreviation of "Triangle Below Canal Street". The "triangle" (more accurately a quadrilateral) is bounded by Canal Stre ...

before being captured and returned to Battery Park. In 2007 a turkey, presumably Zelda, was spotted in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

and Tribeca. She spent the summer of 2013 in nearby

Battery Park City Battery Park City is a mainly residential planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the north ...

. In 2006 and again in 2009, she garnered wider attention when some tourists began to fear for her safety around Thanksgiving. In 2012, she again drew attention when it was realized that she survived

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

after having been missing for five days. While most wild turkeys only live to be six years old, Zelda was at least ten. On October 9, 2014, it was announced that Zelda had been found dead during the previous week, following an automobile collision.

Giuliani

Giuliani is the name given to a female

spotted in Riverside Park, who may have actually have been Zelda. A wild turkey was spotted in Riverside Park (adjacent to the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

) as early as 2003, and wild turkeys have been reported there since. New Yorkers who frequent the park have taken to calling the turkeys they see there Giuliani, after

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...

, the former

mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

Life and death

Giuliani

See also

References

Further reading