Wild Turkey (32210365423)

Description:

Summary[edit] Description: Another Wild Turkey from the same flock as yesterdays image that shows off the iridescent color in the males' feathers. Also here is another view of the hearing organ on their beaks called a snood. Also clearly visible is the beard that males and a few females possess. I tried to darken the background around the head but not quite enough. Benjamin Franklin wanted the wild turkey as the symbol of the new USA. It has become the symbol for a Kentucky bourbon by the same name that was the favorite drink of Hunter Thompson. Males have Iridescent red, green, copper, bronze and gold feathers, which they use to attract females during breeding season.Females are drab, usually with brown or gray feathers. The dull plumage helps in comouflaging them when nesting and raising a family.Color Phases: A few wild turkeys have unusually colored feathers. These are known as color phases. There are four color phases: smokey gray color phasemelanistic color phase (all black)an erythritic color phase (reddish coloration) albino color phase (very rare). Date: 18 February 2017, 16:05. Source: Wild Turkey. Author: Paul VanDerWerf from Brunswick, Maine, USA.