Wild Turkey fight Posted on April 1, 2011 at 11:01:20 PM by Ginny Moore
I just experienced an interesting event.
I've seen wild turkey toms fight before but just now, two hens were fighting. These two are definitely hens - both of them have been coming here with the tom almost daily for over a year and a half. During this time, one has definitely been dominant with some chasing away from the food source but have otherwise got along.
This visit, the girls were wing striking each other and even leaping into the air to foot strike. Both had their "bustles" raised and there was some vocalization going on. Meanwhile, the tom was strutting his stuff beside them - tail fanned, wings dropped, head swollen.
After watching them for a bit, I put down their food. In a few minutes, both hens were side by side, eating and blatantly ignoring the poor tom who was still displaying.
The Birds of North America site does not have any indication that I can find of females fighting like this.
Is this normal? Replies: There have been no replies.