Strutting Their Stuff

Nature’s Way

This morning I watched two tom turkeys wooing one hen. They strutted around with wing feathers on the ground, all 18+ tail feathers fanned out, heads pulled in, chests thrown out. And they struck this pose for well over an hour. It was, well, spectacular! And the noises were also quite enlivening. They spit and drummed their wings on the ground and made a “clicking” sound. Again, just fantastic!

Brain Lovett, editor of Country Turkey Magazine, says, “Why and when do gobblers strut? Honestly, I think whenever they feel the urge. (I love that) Here in Wisconsin, I’ve seen strutters every month of the year. Obviously, I think, they really begin to strut in earnest as the amount of daylight begins to increase in late winter and early spring. Their testosterone levels also increase, which leads to more macho strutting behavior, whether in reaction to potential rivals or an attempt to woo hens. I think this peaks during the pre-breeding and breeding phases, but gobblers will also strut in late spring or summer, especially for hens that have apparently lost their nests or broods.”

It’s For The Ladies

The tom turkeys do all this to impress the ladies. The hen turkey observes and decides when and with whom she will breed. This morning, the hen that was the focus of the toms’ attention, was seemingly paying no mind at all to their maneuvers. In fact, she just munched on grass with her back turned to the toms. But the toms strutted their stuff regardless. I figure it takes patience to win the right hen, and in this case the only hen.

Here’s what’s fun in all this turkey strutting—the hen is looking for the best possible gene pool for her chicks. She is checking out the tail feathers to see if they are all there—and are they bright and beautiful? And she wants to see the broadness of the breast—pecs are important. Of course she’s interested in the length of both the beak and the beard. I don’t know that any of this is true, but it sounds right. And the experts are sure of all this, so …

A True Original

Beautiful, no? In a 1784 letter addressed to Sarah, his daughter, Benjamin Franklin wrote:

“For my own part I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country. He is a bird of bad moral character. He does not get his living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead tree, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labor of the fishing hawk; and when that diligent bird has at length taken a fish, and is bearing it to his nest for the support of his mate and young ones, the bald eagle pursues him, and takes it from him. . . . the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America.” 

Live Science

Nice But

But, nice butt and all, is there a point here? Does there have to be a point? I mean, it’s turkeys doing what turkeys do. And of course, anybody who goes to the gym realizes that males strutting while females ignore them is nature’s way for humans too.

Plus, we all want to be noticed. We want someone to look over at us once in a while and say with their eyes, at least, that we look good to them—good enough to be their choice.