Wild turkeys are iconic birds of North America. Many wonder about their mating habits, as it is a common misconception that they form lifelong pair bonds. This article explores the actual mating system of wild turkeys, detailing their breeding behaviors and parental roles.
Understanding Wild Turkey Mating Behavior
Wild turkeys do not mate for life. Instead, they exhibit a polygynous mating system, where one male (tom or gobbler) mates with multiple females (hens) during a single breeding season. This contrasts with monogamous species, where a male and female form an exclusive pair bond. Dominant males typically secure most mating opportunities, while subdominant males or jakes have fewer chances to breed. A tom’s role in reproduction is primarily limited to mating, after which he seeks other hens.
Courtship Displays and Breeding Season
The breeding season for wild turkeys typically begins in late winter or early spring, triggered by increasing daylight hours and hormonal changes. During this period, male turkeys engage in elaborate courtship displays to attract hens. The most prominent display is gobbling, a loud vocalization that can carry for up to a mile, signaling the tom’s presence.
Males also perform a “strut,” puffing up their feathers, fanning their iridescent tail feathers, drooping their wings, and dragging their wingtips on the ground. As part of these displays, the fleshy, unfeathered skin on a tom’s head and neck, including caruncles and the snood, becomes vividly colored, often displaying shades of red, white, and blue, indicating excitement and health. Hens observe these visual and auditory displays to assess the fitness and dominance of potential mates.
Once a hen selects a gobbler, she may crouch to signal her readiness for copulation. Hens can store sperm, allowing a single mating to fertilize an entire clutch of eggs, even if laid over several days.
Nesting and Parental Care
After mating, the hen’s primary focus shifts to nesting and raising her brood, with the male wild turkey playing no part. Hens construct simple ground nests, typically shallow depressions camouflaged with leaves and debris, often in dense vegetation for concealment. She lays approximately 10 to 12 eggs, usually one per day, over about a two-week period.
Once the clutch is complete, the hen begins continuous incubation, lasting approximately 26 to 28 days. During this time, she rarely leaves the nest, only briefly to feed. After hatching, the young turkeys, known as poults, are precocial, meaning they are covered in downy feathers and can leave the nest and forage within a day. The hen assumes sole responsibility for parental care, teaching the poults survival skills like foraging and predator avoidance, and protecting them until they become independent.