Bucks And Toms

A rare look at a giant White-tailed buck out in late morning with a doe during the rut this past November in Iroquois county.

January 9, 2020 – Here in Northeastern Illinois it has been a warmer, more forgiving winter leading up to the new year, and the relatively mild conditions that we have been enjoying have also continued into early January. Open water, and mostly snow-free fields means that there is easy foraging for both migratory and resident wildlife such as birds, waterfowl, turkey, and deer. Large flocks of wild turkeys can be seen feeding on plant material and the spilled grains from the last harvest in the snow-free agricultural fields, the cautious birds usually not far from the safety of their wooded escape. Much like White-tailed deer, wild turkeys separate into groups depending on the time of year. Young male turkeys, in late fall, form jake flocks after leaving their brood flock. The hens also group up after brooding their young. The adult male turkeys stay in bachelor groups until the breeding season arrives in the spring. March and April is the time that the male and female turkeys are joined together in large flocks and then eventually into smaller breeding flocks that are made up of a few toms with ten or fifteen hens. White-tailed deer also form bachelor groups. The bucks group together throughout the spring and summer months and unlike the turkey bachelors that are made up of mostly adult birds, the deer bachelors are made up of many different ages of males. During the warm summer months the White-tailed bucks are growing their antlers back after losing or shedding them during the winter and after the rut (active breeding time). The new growth of antlers starts in the spring and noticeably start out as velvety nubs. During the time of the bucks antler regrowth, the females or does, are giving birth during the spring and summer. By fall the antlers of the White-tailed buck are fully developed. Some antlers are small and are called spikes. While most are average in size there are a few that are huge and impressive but rarely seen. The White-tailed deer in late fall begin another breeding season. The bachelor groups break up and the bucks go their own way in search of does. The wild turkeys, the toms, the hens, and the jakes are still in their groups waiting for spring and another nesting season.

A flock of Wild turkeys that came out of their tall tree roost landing in bean stubble this past week east of Kankakee.

Wild Tom Turkey

Tom Turkeys

Tom Turkeys with their snoods relaxed and drooping down across the top of their bills.

November 5, 2018 – A close up look at those wonderful features of a wild tom turkey photographed in Kankakee county recently. In the photo, the snood is relaxed and drooping down across the top of the bill from just below the forehead, but at anytime that fleshy growth can be drawn in to stand straight up. Hanging from the neck of this celebrated bird is the dewlap, a flap of skin which loosely hangs down from below the chin continuing down the neck. The red fleshy bumps across the back and sides of the head are the minor caruncles. Down below the dewlap are major caruncles that will impress the hens during the spring mating season. The colors of these fleshy areas on the turkeys’ head and neck can change from bright red to all blue or white, depending on the birds’ stress levels. “Wild turkey gobblers have the ability to relax and contract small blood vessels in the skin of the head and neck causing changes in the color of the skin”, according Bob Eriksen a biologist for the National Wild Turkey Federation. Also noted by Eriksen was that the “blood vessels and muscles also control the lengthening and contractions of the snood.”