|
This page under construction........
My Three Amigos--Thanksgiving isn't the same without them. |
The area where I used to live was bordered on the back by wild and
mountainous topography, very close--as the crow flies--to the Great Smokies, where perhaps more than 100 wild turkeys
called home. My friend Al said I charmed them into something other than "wild" turkeys. He called them
"mild" turkeys! Perhaps they were.
When I moved to Walland a few years ago, I probably had not seen
a dozen Wild Turkeys in my life. That soon changed. One December morning as I enjoyed the view of the Little
River from my kitchen window, I saw them for the first time. I was thrilled and soon our relationship began. A
couple thousand or so photographs later, I'd come to know those beauties almost as good as I knew my cats. One
particular turkey would come trotting to me when I ventured outside if he were within range of my voice. No, I
didn't name him but we talked daily! As long as I lived there, three males, whom I had dubbed "the three amigos,"
came almost daily. They were still there the day I moved.
Traffic often stopped along the road to view the spectacle.
Sometimes upward of 50 birds would be together at one time--stretched across my front yard. One day I
counted over 100 of the regal birds browsing in my yard.
|
During the months of February and March it is a wonder that the
gobblers (the mature males) don't starve to death because they spent all their time strutting and displaying for the hens.
During courtship displays the gobblers fan their tail feathers, puff-up all over, drag their wingtips
and the normally blue-colored tissues around their head and neck become engorged with blood--turning a fiery red color. The
engorged tissues along the front of their neck are called wattles. Bumpy areas are called caruncles.
There is a unique fleshy structure atop the gobbler's beak that expands and hangs down as a fleshy flap
during courtship displays. This appendage is known as a snood. In wild turkeys it may expand from a 3/4" pointed bump atop
their beak to a 2" - 4" long, fat, worm-like flap that changes color from blue to red near its tip. A university researcher
studying this phenomenon decided that its purpose is to demonstrate virility and to assist in establishing "pecking order"
among competing males without them having to engage in battle. Those with the longest snood are often favored by the hens
and recognized as the dominant males by other gobblers.
Mature gobblers also have a "beard." The beard is actually a single feather protruding from their breast.
The beard is composed of bristly feather materials. Beards grow at a rate of up to 5" per year but because they drag on the
ground while the turkeys feed, they rarely get longer than about 9" - 12". Females can have beards but this is uncommon.
Gobblers also grow "spurs" on their legs. Like the spurs on roosters (male chickens), turkey spurs are
sharp and up to 1-1/2" long. They can be used for defense but, in the case of turkeys, studies suggest gobblers rarely injure
one another this way. Females may occasionally have a short spur--usually only on one leg. Look carefully at the legs of the
birds in the SmugMug photo gallery and you'll be able to see the spurs on the legs of the gobblers.
Jan's cats "stalked" the turkeys. Look for those photos in the gallery.
Wild turkeys can fly very well (domestic turkeys generally cannot fly). We've seen them fly straight up
for over 50' to get over trees before beginning to move horizontally. Each evening they fly up into tops of trees to
roost.
I was privileged to observe up close their courtship displays,
their private "dust baths," their fights, their roosting at dusk and 'rousing at dawn, their browsing
for berries in my backyard trees among other rituals. |
|
One day as I sat not three feet away from several
of the turkeys, I heard what I thought was a cat purring. I was shocked when I realized that the purring was in
fact coming from one of the turkeys nearby. Turkeys "purr" too. When they are content they often
make a sound that is much like the purring of a cat. Click here to open a webpage where you can read about the various sounds turkeys make and
listen to them online--including the purring sound.
Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to his daughter suggesting
the wild turkey would be a better national bird symbol than the bald eagle. Read it here.
| |
|
