This turkey was runnin' bout in Mammoth Cave National Park one spring morning, 2010. It was not the only one we spotted that morning, but this one did stick around long enough for me to capture a photo.
Here are some tidbits of info about the habits of a turkey.
The Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is native to North America and is the heaviest member of the Galliformes. It is the same species as the domestic turkey, which was domesticated from the South Mexican subspecies of the Wild Turkey.
Adult Wild Turkeys have long reddish-yellow to greyish-green legs and a black body. Males have a large, featherless, reddish head, red throat, and red wattles on the throat and neck. The head has fleshy growths called caruncles.
When males are excited, a fleshy flap on the bill expands, and this, the wattles and the bare skin of the head and neck all become engorged with blood, almost concealing the eyes and bill. Each foot has three toes, and males have a spur behind each of their lower legs.
Wild Turkeys are surprisingly agile fliers and cunning, unlike their domestic counterparts. Turkeys are very cautious birds and will fly or run at the first sign of danger. Their ideal habitat is an open woodland or savanna, where they may fly beneath the canopy top and find perches. They usually fly close to the ground for no more than a quarter mile (400 m).
Adult Wild Turkeys have long reddish-yellow to greyish-green legs and a black body. Males have a large, featherless, reddish head, red throat, and red wattles on the throat and neck. The head has fleshy growths called caruncles.
When males are excited, a fleshy flap on the bill expands, and this, the wattles and the bare skin of the head and neck all become engorged with blood, almost concealing the eyes and bill. Each foot has three toes, and males have a spur behind each of their lower legs.
Wild Turkeys are surprisingly agile fliers and cunning, unlike their domestic counterparts. Turkeys are very cautious birds and will fly or run at the first sign of danger. Their ideal habitat is an open woodland or savanna, where they may fly beneath the canopy top and find perches. They usually fly close to the ground for no more than a quarter mile (400 m).
Turkeys have many vocalizations:
"gobbles," "clucks," "putts," "purrs," "yelps," "cutts," "whines," "cackles," and "kee-kees." In early spring, male turkeys, also called gobblers or toms, gobble to announce their presence to females and competing males. The gobble can carry for up to a mile. Males also emit a low-pitched "drumming" sound; produced by the movement of air in the air sack in the chest, similar to the booming of a prairie chicken. In addition they produce a sound known as the "spit" which is a sharp expulsion of air from this air sack. Hens "yelp" to let gobblers know their location.
Gobblers often yelp in the manner of females, and hens can gobble, though they rarely do so. Immature males, called jakes, often yelp.
To view a larger image please click here.
"gobbles," "clucks," "putts," "purrs," "yelps," "cutts," "whines," "cackles," and "kee-kees." In early spring, male turkeys, also called gobblers or toms, gobble to announce their presence to females and competing males. The gobble can carry for up to a mile. Males also emit a low-pitched "drumming" sound; produced by the movement of air in the air sack in the chest, similar to the booming of a prairie chicken. In addition they produce a sound known as the "spit" which is a sharp expulsion of air from this air sack. Hens "yelp" to let gobblers know their location.
Gobblers often yelp in the manner of females, and hens can gobble, though they rarely do so. Immature males, called jakes, often yelp.
To view a larger image please click here.
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