A Wild Turkey Adventure: Part 2

As suddenly as the commotion began the landscape fell silent when from the fray two turkeys emerged locked in battle. With heads locked and breasts against one another the gobblers pushed and shoved with all of their strength.

When the head hold gave way the gobblers would grapple again trying to grab the other in the most advantageous hold all the while shoving their bodies together.

In this close-up shot the combatants are holding each other with their necks intertwined while jockeying for the head hold. As the gobblers vied for the advantageous hold their heads and necks reminded me of two vertical snakes twirling together

A close-up of the head lock with one gobblers lower beak in the mouth of his opponent and his upper over the top of the head while the others upper beak is inside the mouth with his lower below the lower beak of the other contestant.

My observation during this fight was that the gobbler with his upper beak over the top of the head of his opponent had the advantage.

In all of my years of observing wild turkey behavior this is the first time I have ever witnessed a fight between two adult gobblers where they grappled each other. Previously I had observed charges, kick-boxing, and some pecking but never anything remotely resembling this serious silent battle for supremacy.

In the next post we will take a better look at the violent action taking place here and a look at what the two accomplices were doing while these two gobblers fought their intense battle.