Let’s Talk Turkey
A male wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) gobbles vociferously to announce his presence to prospective mates in Cupertino's Rancho San Antonio County Park.
The wild turkeys at Rancho San Antonio County Park have definitely detected the arrival of spring. Last week when I was at the park, I could not help noticing a flock of turkeys in a field near the parking lot. At least six males were courting at least as many females, trumpeting forth their loud gobbles and showing off their fanned tails. I was at the park to go hiking and, alas, did not have my camera with me.
The following morning I returned to the same spot hoping to re-find the turkey flock. While the flock was nowhere to be seen, there was one lone tom turkey who put on an excellent show. He was gobbling and showing off his breeding plumage with gusto, apparently not phased by the fact that no other turkeys were in the vicinity at the time. He did not seem to mind the attention he was receiving from the paparazzi (me) and proudly continued his performance, providing me the opportunity to capture the photographs shown in this post.
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A male wild turkey, known as a tom or a gobbler, displays its fanned tail.
A male turkey in breeding plumage grows what's known as a beard: a cluster of long, hairlike feathers stemming from the center of its chest. When showing off, it engorges the fleshy protuberance at the upper base of its bill called a "snood".
During the months of March and April male turkeys strut their stuff in order to attract a mate.
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