Wild Turkey Courtship

I was fortunate to observe a flock or “rafter” of Florida Wild Turkeys or Osceola Turkeys as this unique subspecies is known while camping at a remote state park north of Lake Okechobee last January. Filmed with Canon SX70HS on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/2QftDPd
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These wild turkeys face no hunting pressure which can be extreme in unprotected lands and so have no fear of people. In fact, it is best to get out of big Tom's way when he is fired up with testosterone in the mating season.

This flock was made up of one big Tom turkey and about 14 adult hens and it was the beginning of the breeding season so we get to see the excitement of courtship up close. Young male wild turkeys tend to hang out in separate flocks of their own. I'll put a link to a video example of their behavior in the description.

Courtship starts early in the south – this was January. The male struts, fans out his tail and gobbles to attract hens. During these displays, the skin on the male turkey’s head turns bright blue and white, and the caruncles become swollen and turn bright red. In the video you'll see this big tom go through two periods of excitement and display.

To conserve energy, wild turkeys primarily walk. They spend most of their time on the ground searching for acorns, seeds, fruits, insects, leaves, and small vertebrates. They can cover several hundred acres a day. But Wild turkeys are actually quite powerful fliers, especially for short distances where Speeds over 50 mph have been observed.
For safety from ground predators such as bobcats, foxes, coyotes, and snakes. wild turkeys roost at night in trees within thicker forest stands.
Florida is home to two subspecies of wild turkey — the eastern wild turkey which is mostly found north of the peninsula and the Osceola or Florida wild turkey found especially in the central and south central peninsula where I was.
The Osceola wild turkey subspecies is smaller and darker than the typical eastern subspecies. Males usually weigh between 15 to 20 pounds, and females weigh eight to 12 pounds. Males have iridescent green and red hues on their feathers that are not as bronze as the eastern subspecies. They can also be distinguished from the eastern wild turkey by their dark brown tail feather tips and wing bars and primary feathers consisting of more black than white. The Osceola turkey typically has a shorter beard than the eastern wild turkey, but has longer spurs. The caruncles (wattles) on gobbler heads are red-colored throughout the year but may also contain intense shades of blue and white during the breeding season.
This big tom has caused quite a lot of excitement among the hens and this is just the beginning of courtship.
Source info:
https://www.nwtf.org/content-hub/behind-the-bird-history-and-conservation-of-the-osceola-wild-turkey
https://projectupland.com/turkey-hunting/osceola-wild-turkey-meleagris-gallopavo-osceola/
https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/birds/game-birds/wild-turkeys/

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