.....Flock together.
Wild turkeys tend to travel in flocks as there is safety in numbers. If you have a dozen or more pairs of keen eyes predators can frequently be spotted before they pose a threat.
Turkey flocks take many forms. A brood flock includes hens and a mixed sex collection of that year's recruitment of the newly-hatched. Brood flocks are sometimes led by a matriarchal Boss Hen.
Jakes - yearling males - also travel in flocks. They are like gangs of teenage boys and are prone to making trouble and bad decisions. They are the juvenile delinquents of the species.
This is a flock of long beards; mature males referred-to as gobblers. Outside of the breeding season these flocks are typical and can be led by a dominant male bird. (The pecking order applies to birds of both sexes). With the arrival of spring and with loving on their minds any previous conviviality goes out the window and these males will resort sparring amongst themselves as they compete to collect their harems of hens with which to breed.
Jakes who are stupid enough to attempt to breed with a mature gobbler's lady friend can expect a sound thrashing.
These photos were taken by camera #2 on the north bank of Silver Creek and camera #1 west of the house and within a stone's throw of the Taj 2.0. The interval was sixteen minutes apart.
Posts
