The Vineyard’s first cases of avian flu found in dead birds last week have Island officials urging the community to do its part to stop the spread of the disease. 

The turkeys found dead in Edgartown earlier this month have preliminarily tested positive for avian flu, marking the first cases known to be on the Island.

Twenty wild turkeys were found dead in the Smith Hollow neighborhood in Edgartown over the weekend and officials suspect bird flu was the culprit.

Editors note: In the summer of 2008, a tough turkey named Tom was terrorizing a Vineyard Haven neighborhood.

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to some temporary changes in state turkey hunting rules, while new regulations approved last year are now in effect.

For years turkeys have been setting up roost around the Vineyard in record numbers, roaming the fields and rural roads with impunity.

Armed with makeshift flags made of feed bags, a farm crew waved, herded, and cajoled 150 soon-to-be Thanksgiving turkeys down a woodland path.

Now that you have made many decisions about your Thanksgiving turkey, let me tell you a thing or two about the bird you are going to demolish.

Except for a single distinguishing feature, this turkey looks like any other in the flock that wanders through Vineyard Haven. But it's hard to miss the thin green arrow protruding from his haunch.

There was a time, in the not so distant past, when turkeys crowded more than just the roads of Martha’s Vineyard.