Yardbirds: Turkeys In The Yard
December 4, 2009
This short narrative and photos come from reader “jes” in Florida.
Nice flock in my yard today, they cleaned up my yard, then went to the feeder in my front field and had a feeding frenzy..These birds are just a year old, except the hens who have had several clutches, and are still producing large broods…photos were taken through the glass window..there were ten in this flock and nine in the flock that came by earlier..
These are the results of keeping feeders active throughout the year….Although I’ve lived here for over 56 years, it’s only been the last 7-9 years that turkeys have been coming through the area where I live…and I’ve been feeding them for at least 9-10 years, hoping to get them settled in ….they wander through the neighborhood, coming back for the supplemental feed that helps get them through …and they are always a pleasure to watch. This flock was probably all from one “clutch”, or one hen, although sometimes two or more “clutches” will get together, and sometime even many more! Later in the year, they will separate, and go different ways, gobblers with gobblers, hens with hens, and then again they will band together, into even larger flocks. If enough neighbors will “provide” for them, they will stay in an area, and live their lives without wandering far enough to go where they may fall prey to disaster..or someone’s dinner table. Even though I hunt spring gobblers every year, I have only hunted one of these “homebirds” One year when I was so crippled from a heel spur that I couldn’t hunt my usual hunting area, I was up at early light, taking the dog out, when I heard the gobble of a bird in response to slamming the door behind me….and after limping to a tree in my front field, sat and called in the first and only bird I have killed on my home ground..and that corn fed bird was mighty fat and sweet…
Posted by Tom Remington
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They’re quite a big pain in the you know what when they’re around in large numbers. They really makes a mess out of everything.