This Turkey Tuesday is about sound, and how turkeys identify the source, direction, and distances to sounds in their environment. With turkey seasons approaching in the weeks ahead, us turkey hunters are now practicing our ability to sound like a turkey in hopes of convincing a tom to visit the ‘hen” that’s seeking his attention. If you’re like me, you’re practicing calling while you drive, while you’re supposed to be working at your desk, and while you’re supposed to be helping prepare dinner. I’m guilty of practicing a bit too loudly, as I envision a tom’s gobble piercing the environment and me excitedly responding to him. But the reality is, turkeys can pinpoint the locations from where we’re calling with eerie precision – almost a ninja capability! When a tom hears a call, the sound travels down each ear canal located on the sides of his head – and the volume of that call is detected independently by each ear – these 2 independent pieces of information are then transmitted to the brain. The tom also constantly moves his head ever so slightly as the information from that call reaches him, which allows the brain to refine the estimated distance to the call, based on volume and direction of the call. The result is, the tom can hear a single call from quite a distance and walk easily to the spot from which that call was uttered. And, if you look at the frequency in which turkey calls lie (400 to 4000 Hz), many of those calls lie towards the low end – meaning they’re low frequency and designed to be subtle with low volume. The take home is, if you consider how a tom’s hearing functions the next time you call to one, you’ll recognize that it takes very little volume on a call for a tom to identify your location with surgical precision.
Pic by Jami Lindler.
