Talking Turkey in the Morning

The wild turkeys at this time of year would but e-Harmony or Match.com to shame.  The big toms are in full mating plumage, dropping their wings and upping their tails and in general just plain strutting their stuff, hoping to impress the ladies.  (this particular hen looks at bit ho-hum, but the boys are 'working it')

We frequently see them along the side of the road, or on our hiking trails, and just now every morning we can hear the big gobblers calling in the Sugarbush woods.   It is a curious gobbling sound...  and it carries a long way on the quiet morning air.

I can sit on my deck with my morning coffee and listen to the boys singing to the girls. It is their vesrsion of a rooster's crow -- a loud, shrill descending and throaty jumble of sound that lasts about one second.   The males will often gobble from their treetop roosts, where the sound carries better than on the ground.  One male's call can lead to a group of others joining in -- in fact, a loud noise, or a crow's caw can trigger what is called 'shock gobbling' wherein a whole bunch of turkeys choir up  Every now and then I test that theory... it's rather fun to get the turkeys to call back.

The gobble is not their only call.  Both males and females cackle as they fly down from their roost trees, give short, soft purring calls while travelling on foot, and a long series of yelps to reassemble a flock after it has been scattered.  Young turkeys (called poults)  whistle three or four times to their flockmates when they are lost.. 

It is pretty marvellous to know who is doing the talking out there in our woods here at Bondi Village Resort.

Thank you to our friend Steve Dunsford for this beautiful photo.

Why Did the Turkey Cross the Road?

The wild turkeys have been hanging out along the edge of the road just beyond the Firehall. This gives them easy access to the maple sugar bush and hemlock swamp on one side of the road, and to the open fields and stands of hardwood on the other side.

Which is, for a turkey, plenty of reason to cross a road.

It is fascinating to watch their mating displays, when the tom has his huge tail fanned out, wingtips drooped to touch the ground, and is doing his darndest to impress the ladies.

The gals, like this hen, are decked out in their best colours as well, including that sexy blue shading on the neck, with just a splash of red to set it off.

Drivers need to exhibit caution, as these big birds turkey trot back and forth across the roadway.

Somedays, it's enough to make you wish for a bumper sticker that reads "I BRAKE FOR TURKEYS".  But then, it is an election year...

Draw your own conclusions.