Tag Archive for ‘Merriam’s wild turkey’ at Beside the Stream

Tag Archive for 'Merriam’s wild turkey'

Turkey Beauty Revisited (and two new words)

Published on February 29, 2008 in Merriam's wild turkey. 0 Comments

I know you must be eagerly awaiting the promised head shots for the gobbler beauty contest. The truth is much stranger than I had imagined.

The two new words are caruncle and snood.

See how this tom has a pierced eardrum? He must be deaf in his left ear. The snood is the small growth between his eyes and his beak. It’s just a little thing when he is relaxed, but it grows as long as five inches when he gets excited. The snood will flop over his beak when he struts for hens, or has dominance struggles with other toms. But when he’s hanging around feeling happy it’s not very impressive.

This male has a lovely snood and wattle, the pink sac of flesh hanging under his chin and on his chest. Turkey wattles don’t look like much unless they’re thinking about women.

This turkey has a winning wattle and beard combination. The beard is a modified feather that hangs down to the ground; the hens sometimes have little ones, and adult males take a few years before their beard brushes against the ground.

This turkey doesn’t want to play. His beard, snood and wattles can’t be rated, but he gets the prize for caruncles, the little fleshy red tabs on the blue skin of his neck.

snood /snud/ –noun

1.	the distinctive headband formerly worn by young unmarried women in Scotland and northern England.

2.	a headband for the hair.

3.	a netlike hat or part of a hat or fabric that holds or covers the back of a woman’s hair.

4.	the pendulous skin over the beak of a turkey.

–verb (used with object)

5.	to bind or confine (the hair) with a snood.

[Origin: bef. 900; ME: fillet, ribbon; OE snōd]

car·un·cle /ˈkærʌŋkəl, kəˈrʌŋ-/–noun

1.	Botany. a protuberance at or surrounding the hilum of a seed.

2.	Zoology. a fleshy excrescence, as on the head of a bird; a fowl’s comb.

3.	Anatomy. a small, fleshy growth.

[Origin: 1605–15; earlier caruncula < L: small piece of flesh, dim. of carō (gen. carnis) flesh; for suffix, see carbuncle]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Beauty and the Beholder’s eye

Published on February 22, 2008 in Merriam's wild turkey. 0 Comments

If you’re looking at feathers or thinking of dinner, it’s easy to see that this bird is a beauty

but eye to eye, it’s a different story. The naked red and blue skinned head, the exposed eardrums, the lavender mask on his face and that tuft on the growth between his eyes… it takes some adjustment to see this turkey as handsome.

We’ll have a turkey beauty contest as soon as I get some head shots.

Clearing the roof

Published on February 6, 2008 in Merriam's wild turkey, Snow storm and teenagers. 0 Comments

Bob decided that with so much snow, we needed to shovel off the roof. The thought of moving so many tons makes me feel like a delicate flower, plus I’m sure the roof is a very dangerous place for me to be. Luckily, Sam and a friend were just back from skiing, and we picked up another friend making four strong men for shovelling.

The turkeys were alarmed by the noise, and perched high in the ponderosas until everyone was down from the roof.

By the time the job was done, the boys were ready for food and another adventure.

In some ways, teenaged boys are the most useful creatures on earth. They are so active and need so many calories that they’ll shovel tons of snow for goodwill and food. When I explain which treat can be ready by the time they complete some onerous task, the job is as good as done. At the core, their motto is something like “Can Move Mountains for Food”; mine is “Will Cook”.

Beside the Stream