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The only visitors we get these days when the drive up to our place is still full of snow
-- are the quirky wild turkeys.
The largest birds in North America.
They are long legged, small headed. The males are
called gobblers, the females, hens.
They appear around the house and fly up to squat
down on the deck or sit on the wood railing to stare at us.
It’s the males who bulk themselves up to attract the
females. Look close enough you’ll see it’s the females
who have the beards.
They weigh 18 to 22 pounds with a wingspan, of
five feet.
In the spring the males get together in clearings
to form courtship displays to attract females: puffing
themselves up and fanning out their tails and making
gobbling sounds.
Writer’s comment: Nor are they fussy eaters. They
munch on hickory or beech nuts, acorns, fruit,
snails and worms. They come packed with some 6,000
feathers. Not that I counted them.
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