I never saw a wild turkey until a few years ago. I had heard that there were plenty of them in this part of Ohio, but I hadn't seen any in the woods or fields. When I saw my first, I was fascinated.

Big birds have always held a special fascination for me. I have seen some pretty huge buzzards circling on the air currents over our house. When I see a hawk or owl I always have to stop and take a look. When I saw my first bald eagle in the wilds of Washington state, I was speechless. I think the mere size and majesty of these creatures are what does it for me.

Let's face it, turkeys aren't exactly the most beautiful birds, but they are big and they have their own qualities that make them interesting. Fall of 2000 was the first time we had the turkeys in our back yard. They are pretty funny birds. They walk around like they are disjointed and rarely fly unless it is absolutely necessary. We have had as many as 8 at a time in the yard. They are mostly females but almost always are accompanied by at least one male. It was hard to tell the males and females apart until I learned that the males have a feather that sticks down from their breasts.

The turkeys look a dull brown/black in color until the sun shines on them. Then their plummage becomes a beautiful copper color that shines and shimmers. They actually become quite pretty. They are still odd creatures. They have to be very scared before they will fly. Usually, if we go outside while they are in the yard, they walk quickly to the woods.

The oddest thing I saw was during mating season which is during the spring. We've all seen the traditional pictures of turkeys at Thanksgiving with the tail feathers spread out in full display. This was definitely something I had never seen for myself. One day, as the herd moved through the yard, the male started doing his "thing" and we could not believe how he could puff himself out to look three times his usual size! Below are pictures of his performance.

As with the deer, they quit coming around once the weather got nicer and nuts and berries became plentiful in the wilds. It will be interesting to see if they return when the leaves begin to fall again.