When strutting, the network of smooth muscles that connect to feather follicles raise and lower contour feathers on the body. These feathers are arranged in tracts, so their movement looks like a slinky! What a display! ⁦@wildturkeylab⁩ ⁦@NWTF_official⁩

A wild turkey’s snood, the fleshy tissue that hangs from the forehead over the beak, serves many functions. Helps attract hens, dissipates heat when a tom displays, and hens can assess a tom’s fitness potential via snood length ⁦@wildturkeylab⁩ ⁦@NWTF_official⁩

Poults need abundant insects to support rapid growth and feather development. Insects thrive in early successional plant communities, which often require disturbance to maintain. Is anyone seeing poults/broods? ⁦@wildturkeylab⁩ ⁦@NWTF_official⁩

Wild turkeys with multiple beards or spurs are unique and prized to turkey hunters. Why some toms have >1 beard or spur on a leg is unclear, but the primary beard or spur is usually longer. Anyone shot a tom with >1 beard or spur? ⁦@wildturkeylab⁩ ⁦@NWTF_official⁩

Asserting dominance often is on full display while turkey hunting, when a harvested bird is attacked by another tom. Toms never miss a chance to move up in the pecking order, as dominance matters in the turkey world! ⁦@wildturkeylab⁩ ⁦@NWTF_official⁩

Spring shift. Groups of toms are splitting into smaller breeding groups. Some members of groups are related, some not. In the East, these breeding groups will travel ~1 mile to breeding range. Enough to be here today, gone tomorrow! ⁦@wildturkeylab⁩ ⁦@NWTF_official⁩

Florida wild turkeys, often called the Osceola subspecies, live in unique landscapes. Palm trees, citrus groves, grazed pastures, and oak hammocks. Conserving existing habitats in Florida will be key to the bird’s future ⁦@wildturkeylab⁩ ⁦@NWTF_official⁩

Group size matters in the wild turkey world. Bigger groups of toms attract more hens, and dominant toms in these groups produce more offspring. Some of these toms are related, some aren’t. Anyone seeing groups of strutters? ⁦@wildturkeylab⁩ ⁦@NWTF_official⁩

Wild turkeys have adaptations to deal with severe winter weather. Fluffing feathers to trap warm air against their bodies, tucking their heads into their feathers, and moving about less help them conserve energy and deal with cold ⁦@wildturkeylab⁩ ⁦@NWTF_official⁩

Check out the 2nd part of our series on the late Wayne Bailey, a pioneer in the wild turkey world. His thoughts on how gobbling activity would change are spot on! @wildturkeylab @NWTF_official

There are pros and cons to roads for wild turkeys. They often use them to travel, forage, and display. Important roosts may also be near them. But risk is higher along them, both from natural predators and us turkey hunters. ⁦@NWTF_official⁩ ⁦⁦@wildturkeylab⁩