Gould’s Wild Turkey — On Display

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It’s courtship and mating season for the wild turkeys in southern Arizona’s mountains. The males vie with each other to attract females by displaying their plumage, and the displays can be spectacular.

The males (“Toms”) are quite large. A Tom may weigh more than 16 pounds (more than 7 kilograms). When one displays, a big bird seems to be gigantic.

The Toms have evolved beautiful plumage and a host of other ornaments apparently to appeal to the females. The plumage is remarkably intricate and much of it is iridescent in colors ranging from purple to bronze. Toms have fleshy growths extending over their beaks (“snoods”) and have long, hair-like plumes in the middle of their breasts. The Toms’ facial flesh changes color with their emotions, ranging from brilliant crimson to bright blue, to pale pink.

Wild Turkeys in southern Arizona are a subspecies of Wild Turkey known as “Gould’s Wild Turkey.” They are physically the largest Wild Turkeys and also the least common in the United States. They range throughout much of Mexico’s mountains but have only a small US population in southern Arizona. That doesn’t necessarily make them hard to find. I photographed these individuals in Madera Canyon south of Tucson as they displayed on and alongside the canyon’s road.

Images made with Canon R5, Canon EF 400mm f4 DO II lens+Canon EF 1.4x telextender, M setting (auto ISO). First and second images, ISO 4000, third image, ISO 2000. f5.6 @ 1/1250.

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