Camera Critters: Wild Turkey Brawl

Turkey mating season is winding down in our area, and it is almost impossible to hear a bird gobbling, but it seems some of the males are still looking for a good brawl. After several less than ideal mornings, today was cool and clear with patchy fog, a beautiful morning to be afield.

Shortly after dawn a few first year bearded gobblers known as "Jakes" arrived and fed in the meadow some distance away. As the rays of the early morning sun touched the meadow, another small group of Jakes arrived on the scene. Soon the two groups had a tremendous falling out and a violent fight began. It was mostly between two birds, but occasionaly some of the others entered the fray.

The Battle Begins

Anything Goes!

It appeared that they would actually ram into each other, leap in the air and kick at their opponent, and sometimes grab him by the neck.

"I'll Show You!"

This continued for several minutes. The photo below is somewhat unusual because it is hard to tell what body parts belong to what bird. As best as I can tell the tails sticking out to left and right below to the two combatants, while the center bird walked between the two and his tail is not easily visible, as it is not fanned out.

Stranglehold

In time the combatants were totally exhausted, laid down in the grass and rested for several minutes.

Taking A Break

Eventually they recovered and resumed the battle for several more minutes before vanishing into the nearby woodland.

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