Turkeys

Turkeys

From Page B1

run away from dangers but are powerful fliers over short distances. This time of year we typically see solitary males or large groups of mostly females making their way quietly through fields and forests.

Year-round residents, they depend in the winter on fat „ stored during the fall when food is plentiful.

They get by on whatever fruits and seeds they can find in the winter, including com and grain leftover from the fall harvest.

Gobble...gobble

In the late spring the mating season begins and lasts several months.

This is when we start to notice the distinctive gobbling of males, especially early in the morning. All this noise attx-acts hens to forest openings or open fields where dozens of females congregate to watch the spectacular displays of a few centrally-located males.

The males gobble and strut with wings down, plumage erect, tail fanned and head ornaments puffed out.

We’ve seen this once nearby our house and we can’t help thinking (especially this time of year) it looks like a political gathering with the voters (hens) trying to decide among various candidates (males) who are striving arduously to get votes.

Since turkeys are polygynous, only a few dominant males mate with most of the hens. Younger males must await a better opportunity next year. After this brief display/mating period, all males, whether successful or not, have absolutely nothing to do with the hens or their chicks (sort of like politicians again, no?).

Females lay a clutch of eggs in a shallow leaf-lined depression on the ground, and when the chicks hatch they are tended constantly by their mothers, usually in the company of several other mothers and chicks.

Chicks develop rapidly and can fly in a week or two. Hens are very protective of their chicks and teach them what to eat.