Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Terrible Turkey Tiff

Every now and then, a couple of big, tom turkeys will get into an altercation where they grab onto each other's beaks and just won't let go.

 

It looks just awful and they push against each other, standing on tiptoes and vying for dominance. 


They sometimes get themselves all twisted up and tied in knots, but still won't let go.  This pair really got into it and kept their grip on each other for a really long time.


Some of the other toms decided to come and join the fracas. It was almost as if they were egging their buddies on - or maybe taking bets on the outcome.
 

They strutted around the combatants, even occasionally displaying and gobbling. 

It was quite a display and, even after they put the witch hazel between themselves and the camera, they kept right on struggling. I kept catching glimpses of them still locked onto each other.  

I hope neither of them came out too much worse for the wear. You'd think they'd have more charitable thoughts about each other during this season of peace and good cheer.


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

They are going to need some witch-hazel after that altercation for all of those bruises.

My brother has a wild turkey that has been hanging around his yard for almost a year. Just hangs out by his chicken coop. He doesn't feed it. When it was really hot he put out water for it.

Happy New Year

Sheila

Anonymous said...

What great pics ! I bet the sounds they were making were interesting, too.

You see such interesting things. I am envious !

BetsyLee

Webfoot said...

Good point, Sheila! Maybe that's why they hide out in the witch hazel so much - they need it to recover from all the sparring. Your brother's wild turkey sounds like he's lonely and wanting to hang out with some other sweet birds!

Thank you, BetsyLee! I feel so fortunate to be able to wander around out in the great wild world and see each season's beauties! There's always something interesting to see.

Anonymous said...

Webfoot, the interesting thing is the neighbor across the road has a big open field with about 50 birds that are hanging out without any domestic birds around.

His neighbor tells him to come get the 50 to add to his yard and he tells his neighbor that it would just be easier to move his across the road. lol.

I don't know if it was kicked out of the family of turkeys or what.

Sheila

Anonymous said...

wow! So interesting! I have not seen photos like this before! Thanks for sharing.

Webfoot said...

That is interesting, Sheila! Turkeys are odd and fascinating birds. I really enjoy watching them go about their rounds. They seem to have their own ideas about things and are very determined creatures - not to mention pretty humorous, too!