If you thought humans alone are capable of blushing, think again. When turkeys are scared, annoyed or excited, the pale pink-coloured skin on their head and neck turns into a vibrant red, blue or white. The skin hanging from the top of the turkey’s beak too turns red.
Male turkeys have 18 tail feathers that make up their impressive fan, which they will open and spread out during mating season.If the feathers in the tail fan aren’t all the same length, you can tell this is an immature male. Their eyes are on the sides of their heads, giving them periscopic vision that is super useful in seeing predators. They are thought to see about 3 times better than humans. They can see an amazing 270 degree field of view.They do however, have poor night vision.
Female turkeys build their nests on the ground, covering their 12-18 spotted eggs with leaves when they are off in search of food. Females hide their nest locations from the males and do all of the work by themselves in raising the chicks. For the first two weeks, the chicks, or poults as they are called, cannot fly, so mom will roost on the ground with them during this time. The poults will stay with their mothers for a year. (In the photo with the trees there is a turkey nest at the base of the right-most tree). They are omnivores, feeding on a variety of foods including seeds, acorns, berries, nuts and insects like crickets and grasshoppers. If you ever get a chance to watch a flock in a field, you can see them snagging insects in the grass as a child would grab at pieces of candy.
Credit Nature for my soul
Picture Credit : Google
