If you haven’t seen this turkey documentary, you need to

Six-Gun

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvccpd

This is the most one of the most fascinating studies in animal behavior I’ve ever seen.  Worth watching in its entirety.

CHIRO1989

That was pretty cool, oh to talk turkey like Joe

bklysen

I thought that was amazing, too. Wondering about that last bird (spoiler alert) that went a bit whacko at the end. What was that all about? 

CHIRO1989

I would guess it was the "rut" and the turkey viewed Joe as another Turkey, testosterone was kicking in.  

bklysen

Ahh....
For some reason, that thought went right over my head - with him being a youngster. Shows you what I know about turkeys. 
  

Six-Gun

CHIRO1989 said:

I would guess it was the "rut" and the turkey viewed Joe as another Turkey, testosterone was kicking in.  

Yup.  that's exactly what it was.  When the breeding starts, all bets are off.  Those bachelor flocks break up in the Spring for a reason, and brothers become mortal enemies in the blink of an eye.  The narrator was nothing more than a competing male at that point and was greeted accordingly, all prior pleasantries be damned.

Jayhawker

Years ago I had just shot a Jake out of a big flock...far from being spooked, a couple of his buddies ran over and proceeded to kick the crap out of him...

Six-Gun

Jayhawker said:

Years ago I had just shot a Jake out of a big flock...far from being spooked, a couple of his buddies ran over and proceeded to kick the crap out of him...

Oh, yes.  Any compromising position of breeding competition is an excuse to demonstrate dominance.  In an interesting twist to that concept, I've shot a Tom out of a group that had just been beating the crap out of my decoy only to watch his buddies flinch at the shot, then stand around for 10+ minutes waiting around for their dead buddy to collect himself and carry on0.

jaywapti

Thanks Six, great video, took me 3 nights to watch it.

JAY

Six-Gun

jaywapti said:

Thanks Six, great video, took me 3 nights to watch it.

JAY

Glad you enjoyed it.  I've watched it at least twice now, and still can't get over what I'm seeing.  I sent it to the guy who guided me for Rio Grande turkeys in Kansas, and he said that he forwarded it on to every guide that he knows and beyond.   

Varmintmist

Its a good video, and although I love the woods and could disappear for a month pretty comfortably, I think this dude has spent a few to many Friday nights in the woods alone.

Six-Gun

Varmintmist said:

Its a good video, and although I love the woods and could disappear for a month pretty comfortably, I think this dude has spent a few to many Friday nights in the woods alone.

I definitely can't imagine doing a year solo with birds as my only really companions.

Jeff in TX

That was absolutely incredible.  Over 30 different vocabulary sounds, it's a wonder we can call them in!  I thought it was cool they were strutting at 10 days old.  I really enjoyed this.

Six-Gun

Jeff in TX said:

That was absolutely incredible.  Over 30 different vocabulary sounds, it's a wonder we can call them in!  I thought it was cool they were strutting at 10 days old.  I really enjoyed this.

The fact that they had different vocalizations just for identifying each species of snake was totally mind-blowing.  I had no clue.