This Turkey Tuesday is about transitioning from summer to fall. The beginning of college football is upon us, and signals that fall is right around the corner. Technically, the fall equinox is still a month away, but if you’re like me, you are getting hints that fall is here. The transition from summer to fall in the wild turkey world is an interesting series of changes and shifts. One, brood flocks of hens with poults they hatched will transition to fall flocks composed only of adult hens and juvenile hens. Two, the jakes will leave the brood flocks and soon form flocks of their own but continue using areas around hen flocks – doing so allows jakes to identify the same profitable areas used by adult hens. Three, the jakes we encountered this past spring are now adult toms, and those toms will form groups with other toms – although these new adults are now at the bottom of the dominance hierarchy with older toms holding rank. Four, molting will be completed in the upcoming months, resulting in complete plumage like the stunning tom in this picture. Lastly, diet will soon shift heavily towards seeds and hard mast, and when this occurs, home ranges will begin to increase for both sexes and all ages, as they search for areas with abundant food. The take home is, fall is right around the corner, and with it comes a time of profound transition and change in the world of the wild turkey.
Pic by Clayton Worrell.
