Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Wild Bird Wednesday: Strutting Turkey

(Enlarge photos for optimum viewing.)
A couple of weeks ago I posted the wild turkey hen that had been feeding underneath my bird feeder. I knew it would only be a matter of time before other guests would follow her lead. I've watched this little dance for three years now.

At first the Old Guy stays pretty close to the cover of the nearby woods and doesn't come as close to the house as his harem does.

The old guy has two fellow gobblers that are more likely to take care of their stomachs first before performing for the ladies.


(I really do believe there are three gobblers that are visiting. The Old Guy is much more interested in the hens and pretty much struts constantly when he is around. The two you see in the above photo usually walk right up with the hens and help themselves to the bird seed. Only one of them does a little bit of half-hearted strutting. The dark edges in this photo could have been cropped out but I decided to leave them. They are the edges of the window I am shooting through and shows just how close the turkeys are to the house.)

These two remind me of two old men meeting up on the street corner stopping to chat.


One day in the evening sun. I really like their glistening feathers.


This is 'The End' of the story for now; but 'The Dance' continues. Stay tuned!


27 comments:

George said...

These are wonderful pictures of your visitors. The Old Guy can really strut his stuff.

kayerj said...

great shots, I love that these birds just wander through your yard.

Unknown said...

Great post Carletta!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

Rose said...

Oh, wow, these are gorgeous, Carletta!

FAB said...

Super post Carletta. The Old Guy certainly knows how to woo the ladies.

MaineBirder said...

Excellent post and photo series! Love the first photo of the Tom.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

HI Carletta, WOW--that male turkey knows how to do the dance, doesn't he????? Hope all of the males get a 'partner'--and hope the females all get a good one!!!!!

Great pictures... You are so lucky to get to see this.
Hugs,
Betsy

theconstantwalker said...

I can's believe you get Turkeys running around wild Carletta. The dancer is a real poser. Great images.

Anonymous said...

What a dance this is. I love it. And I think the old one is the smartest one. Why do any work when you are the boss. I say. LOL I'd be strutting as well. Wonderful Carletta and thanks so much for sharing this beautiful dance :)

Springman said...

It is amazing how beautiful these birds are. Their feathers are a prize to find. To see one in full strut is quite something indeed. Keep that window!

Scrappy Grams said...

What a scene to see outside your window! I've seen only white turkeys at the farm days celebrated each year at our fairgrounds in March.
Thanks for sharing such wonder with us. :)

joo said...

It's such a lovely post!

mick said...

Great photos and you are very fortunate to have such interesting birds right outside your window.

Pat said...

Great series of shots! I'd love to have wild turkeys strutting through my yard!

Arija said...

How wonderful to be able to observe them at such close quarters. That old gobbler can strut all he likes, the hens are more interested in feeding.
Great shots of the display.

Bill S. said...

Great pictures of the old boy showing off his stuff.

quilly said...

Nice! I got some turkey shots while we were in Massachusetts. I think your old Tom has a bigger harem then the fellow I saw -- who also had two younger Toms with the group. The old guy actually challenged us, spreading his feathers and strutting his stuff and squawking at the top of his lungs.

Ferdinand said...

Nice photos, in Mexico we say Guajolotes, my grandma have a farm, on vacations i enjoy to feed the Guajolotes.

Sent from my Samsung Star S5230

Sondra said...

Excellent what a great family of turkey!!!! Great photos too.

eileeninmd said...

Wow, what a neat show the turkeys put on for you! Your photos are great! Cool sighting, Carletta!

Fotokarusellen said...

A very beautiful set of images. Great!
Have a nice easter.

Granite Worktops said...

Mind blowing, the pictures are very beautiful. Thanks for sharing friend. cool Sighting

Mike B. said...

Very cool. I've heard of wild turkeys being somewhere in Portland, but I haven't seen any.

Stephany said...

Great shots of the turkeys! I love the first photo.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Great series -- I love your observations! The two "meeting at the street corner" made me laugh. Those kind of "old geezer" meetings are very typical here in the RV resort during the season when everybody is out walking around. One guy calls them street corner conferences.

Ceska said...

Precious details and outstanding design you were given here! I would really like so that you can are grateful for spreading your thoughts as well as time into your belongings you publish.

Anonymous said...

Cool turkey photos, but an ultra ugly font.