Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The Wild Turkey: A Bird of many Colors

From a distance or in subdued light the Eastern Wild Turkey appears as a predominately black colored bird.

However, when an adult male steps into bright sunlight the incredible colors of his iridescent feathers changes his appearance entirely.

And the closer you look the more beautiful his coat of many colors becomes.

As March approaches the early stirrings of the breeding season can be seen in flocks of gobblers as they Jockey for dominance.

Although, I haven't observed a mature gobbler in full strut to date, the jakes are creating quite a commotion.  I was hoping to capture a good side or frontal shot of this jake as he strutted his stuff today, however all of the good poses came while he was partially obscured by the high grass.


5 comments:

Alyssa Johnson said...

Wow, ok- new appreciation for a very common bird!

Ruth Hiebert said...

I knew the turkey had iridescent colours on it,but I never realized just how colourful they are.

Montanagirl said...

Great shots of the Gobblers!

Chris said...

Wow the colors of the feathers are incredible, the bird looks like an ancient knight of the Asian army, widely colored! Excellent pictures Coy...

Bob Shank said...

Very nice photos, Coy! I love the way you captured these amazing colors! I am sad to say that my turkey photos all show the black feathers so far. I also like the way you described what you were seeing and photographing!