Sunday, March 01, 2015

Snood Mood

Today's post focuses upon the snood of the Eastern Wild Turkey.
 
The snood, the small fleshy protuberance on the turkey's forehead, changes length and color depending upon the gobblers mood.  When the bird is not aroused as pictured here, the snood is short and pale.

As the bird begins to become aroused the snood begins to lengthen.

In conjunction with the lengthening of the snood the gobbler's head changes colors from being predominately red to varying shades of red, white, and blue.

I have read of research where snood length directly correlates with mating success.  Studies have shown that females preferring gobblers with the longest snoods.

If that is indeed the case, this long snooded bird should have no problems finding a mate come spring!




5 comments:

Elaine said...

Fantastic shots of the turkey! Amazing to see all the colors on what we usually think of as a rather drab bird. The feather patterns are interesting too.

Sue said...

Great shots--but that's a face only a mother could love!

Ruth Hiebert said...

Those are quite the portraits.Nature is so fascinating.

Montanagirl said...

LOVE your turkey shots!

Woody Meristem said...

Super photos!