Recently, I have been watching Wild Turkeys. It is now mating season. Mind you, the mating itself seems to be a rather rare, albeit necessary, event.
Wild Turkeys have only crossed into Canada in a few places, but one of them is where I live. They resulted from turkeys having been seeded in eastern Washington and northern Idaho in the 1960s to provide targets for hunters. Eventually, some of them wandered up to southeastern B.C. Numbers increased and now they are described as naturalized here.
From years of casual observation, I know males are in their breeding plumage at this time of year, but until some turkeys moved into my neighbourhood, I never saw them mate.
For much of March, some males spend the early part of the day displaying their mating plumage and trying to seek the company of any interested female. Most times it is a lopsided encounter because a female only expresses interest during her rather short oestrous period. But now and then…
Two Wild Turkeys mate. The male is atop the female, but her tail is up and his is down so their cloaca kiss and sperm is passed.
Alistair
Great story …
Can we blame Donald Trump for lack of border control!
Or maybe a good thing … an example of cross border sharing that works and has worked for 100 years!
Rob
Plenty of turkeys in the Castlegar area, city and countryside. Have been in Castlegar for over 15 years, my guess. There is a turkey crossing highway sign on Columbia Avenue(Hwy 22) at the spot the turkeys crossed from the higher bench to the lower Kinnaird area of Castlegar.