File:Wild Turkey (16733801008).jpg

After complaining about not having anything to photograph lately, I ventured out to Bailey Island and I noticed a couple of wild turkeys. My experience had been that they do not let people get too close but these two did not quickly run or fly away. Eventually I discovered the rest of the flock that included 3 or 4 males strutting around with displaying their tail feathers. A good sign that spring is on the way for us--seems it is here already for these impressive and beautiful birds. I had not realized how colorful they can be especially in the sun. A hen is behind the tom in the photo. There was lots of turkey gobble sounds. A

The wild turkey is native to North America and is the heaviest member of the diverse Galliformes. It is the same species as the domestic turkey, which was originally derived from a southern Mexican subspecies of wild turkey . Although native to North America, the turkey probably got its name from the domesticated variety being imported to Britain in ships coming from the Levant via Spain. The British at the time therefore associated the wild turkey with the country Turkey and the name prevails.

Adult wild turkeys have long reddish-yellow to grayish-green legs. The body feathers are generally blackish and dark brown overall with a coppery sheen that becomes more complex in adult males. Adult males, called toms or gobblers, have a large, featherless, reddish head, red throat, and red wattles on the throat and neck. The head has fleshy growths called caruncles. Juvenile males are called jakes; the difference between an adult male and a juvenile is that the jake has a very short beard and his tail fan has longer feathers in the middle. The adult male's tail fan feathers will be all the same length. 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. The long fleshy object over a male's beak is called a snood. When a male turkey is excited, its head turns blue; when ready to fight, it turns red. Each foot has three toes in front, with a shorter, rear-facing toe in back; males have a spur behind each of their lower legs.