This Turkey Tuesday is about wild turkey oddities and will be the last Turkey Tuesday for April while I take some time to chase turkeys rather than post about them. At first glance, the tom in this image certainly has an oddity! What could cause such swelling in this bird’s neck? Well, a likely explanation is that there was an injury or trauma to the cervical air sac, which can occur when toms fight, neck wrestle, and lock beaks. The trauma can either rupture the air sac or cause swelling, which takes time to resolve as the sac basically deflates through time. Interestingly, wild turkeys have multiple air sacs throughout their bodies, which provides a respiratory system that is quite efficient. The sacs produce a unidirectional flow of air, which ensures that fresh oxygen travels to the lungs when the bird inhales and exhales. And because birds don’t have a diaphragm, contractions of the sternum and ribs draw air in and out to expand or contract the sacs. The take home is wild turkeys can certainly sport oddities to their appearance, in this case, linked to air sacs that are part of their respiratory system.
Pic by Ryan Hedrick.
