Never had a lease with turkeys on it, now I am in east Texas. What is the difference? Anyone have pics side by side? Are both in east Texas? We can only take one Eastern.

To my knowledge, there are no Rio's in E. Tx. But has far as telling the 2 apart, a Rio will have light color tips on the tail feathers where a Eastern is more brown or darker color.

Easterns are typically darker in color almost looking black, where as the rios are a little lighter in color. Also the Easterns have more of a chestnut color to there tail fan and rios have bits of white in there tail fan.. also the only turkeys that you will deal with are Easterns.. the rios are more out west and south in the state

Western Anderson, Navarro, and Greyson counties are all the east Texas counties that have rios. A year after they stocked over 160 easterns at Gus Engling WMA and a neighboring ranch they also stocked 80 rios on those properties as well. It's believed that this area is an area the two species overlapped and naturally hybridized.