This Turkey Tuesday is about the muscles involved in strutting. There isn’t much better as a turkey hunter than watching a tom strut as he approaches you – in many ways, it’s what we live to see! And although this highly coordinated display is beautiful to watch, it’s also driven by a complex and amazing system of muscles. Muscles at the base of the tail allow the tail fan to be erect, and by fanning the wing feathers out as he pushes the wings towards the ground, the tom is able to be showy but also produces sound as the primary feathers on the wing drag the ground. However, the contour feathers all over the body are in many ways the real show. Small bundles of smooth muscles form a system in the tom’s skin, and that system connects to the follicles of each feather, which is the structure that holds the feather. These smooth muscles connect to the feather follicle through tiny tendons, and they include erectors that raise the feather, and depressors that lower it. Given that feathers on a tom’s body are arranged in tracts (called pterylae), these paired muscles allow the tom to raise and lower the contour feathers in a way that looks like an accordion – or a slinky if you’re not a music person! So, when a tom struts, the contour feathers stand up and then lay down in a way that allows the feathers to show off iridescence and make the tom appear to change size – all designed to attract attention from hens. The take home is strutting is a coordinated display that is beautiful to observe, and the muscle system necessary to produce such a display is truly amazing.
Video by Chasing 49
