10/10/2023 0 Comments Hen turkey soundsBy the early 1900s, the species was extirpated (gone completely) from many areas, with only about 200,000 birds left. Overhunting and habitat loss led to steep declines in Wild Turkey populations during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Older birds have the longest, sharpest spurs. These bony projections grow up to two inches long and are used to fight for dominance and in self-defense. Male turkeys also sport curved spurs on their lower legs. A tom turkey can change the size and color of these ornamentations by contracting and relaxing small blood vessels in his head and neck. The male's bare head and neck are decorated with fleshy lobes of skin called wattles, as well as a protuberance on the forehead known as a snood. Mature gobblers can have beards over nine inches long. On his chest, a tom has a tuft of modified, filament-like feathers called a beard, which continues to grow as the bird ages. Male turkeys are called toms or gobblers, while females are known as hens. Photo by Dave Nelson, Shutterstock Wattles and Snoods Tom turkey's snood (on the forehead), wattles (on the neck) and beard (on the chest). Wild Turkeys introduced to the Hawaiian Islands have even learned to forage for crabs on the beaches! Wild Turkeys are omnivorous, foraging in flocks on the ground for a variety of nuts (particularly acorns), seeds, fruits, insects, and small vertebrates. Young turkeys, called poults, are precocial, meaning that they hatch fully feathered, with eyes open, and are able to scramble after adults mere hours after hatching. Once mated, a hen turkey lays her large clutch of 10 to 15 eggs in a shallow depression on the ground, concealed by grasses, vines, or other vegetation. Accessible at Wild Turkeys are polygynous: One male will mate with multiple females. Accessible at Wild Turkey hen with chicks by Paul Driver, XC70532. Accessible at Wild Turkey hen by Andrew Spencer, XC13619. (Audio: Wild Turkey males by Mary Beth Stowe, XC71044.
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