PHOTO BY GARRY BRANDENBURG A flock of wild turkeys near the Iowa River Wildlife Area made use of a stand of timber to shield them from cold winds. Today's image was made about one week ago during the cold air bubble that descended upon us from Canada. Protection from wind is just one coping technique birds use to conserve body heat loss. Feathers are the other heat retaining attribute. Many outside feathers repel moisture from rain or Snow. Under that protective feather layer are downy and more fluffy feathers closer to the skin of these birds. Trapped air within the downy base layers works as insulation. Finding food morsels in last year's corn field is a trait turkeys are well suited to use. Wild Turkeys have between 5,000 and 6,000 feathers of all types.

Wild turkeys find the spotlight for this weekend edition of Outdoors Today. I located this flock while passing by a nearby roadway. With a camera and its long telephoto lens, this scribe captured another moment of time when wildlife was just going about their business of survival.

It was good to see them and watch for a bit their behavior as a group. As noted above, these wild birds found a bit of relief from cold winds by feeding on the lee side of a tree line. The trees blocked and slowed the cold wind. This small but important factor helped the turkeys stay warm.

Lots of feathers of many types also keep wild birds warm. Actually the feathers are equivalent to us humans layering up with different materials to conserve our body heat.

Base layers trap heat, or more precisely prevent heat escaping from our skin. Similarly in birds, downy feathers create dead air spaces close to the skin.

The additional layers cover the base for added protection, and any final outside layers work just like a winter coat to repel moisture, wind and retain heat under its cover. Together this system of layered feathers has and remains just what birds of all sizes need to survive winter weather conditions.

Wild turkeys are a very large game bird with lots of meat that people crave for consumption. The number of wild turkeys hunters take each spring and fall across America is a drop in the bucket compared to the number of farm raised turkeys. Since wild birds will not provide the entire supply people desire, domesticated flocks of turkeys raised by farmers fill a critical void for good value protein.

The anatomy of wild turkeys is interesting. Beginning at their heads, a fleshy snood protrudes from their bill base. According to Professor Mike Chamberlain of the Wildlife Ecology department at the University of Georgia, the snood is part of the head ornamentation on males to help attract attention of the females. It also assists with heat dissipation during hot summer time weather conditions.

Turkey eyes are renowned for their acuity, an attribute to allow for finding hidden predators on the ground or aerial predators like hawks or eagles. Human hunters know that staying motionless and having full camouflage is critical to avoid detection.

Wild turkeys have monocular periscope vision. Their eyes can focus and function independently to transmit information to the brain. Bulging eyes on the sides of their heads means they have almost an entire 360 degree field of view.

Ears on turkeys are noted by small openings on the sides of their heads. It is an acute sense that allows them to pinpoint sounds they need to know, and to help communicate within the flock.

Hunters calling with mouth calls, slate, or box calls will have that source pinpointed in direction and distance. If the caller is successful, a wild bird may come right in to investigate. Or they will come only so far and hang up just out of range.

The fleshy head of tom turkey will change colors with its mood. White to blue to red and mixtures of these colors tell other turkeys much more than we humans understand.

Red is believed to signal fear or irritation. In all circumstances, the colors on a wild turkey head is a signalling source to other turkeys.

Feathers serve many purposes. Warmth during the winter, if puffed up to trap warm air.

Those same feathers can be laid down to help dissipate heat in the summer. Feathers shed water and snow.

They are ornamental to assist in the hen’s selection of her mate, and of course the big fan tail feathers of male turkeys is one way he communicates his status to hens. There is a difference in tail feather color patterns between Rio Grande, Eastern, Ocellated, Meriam’s, Osceola (Florida turkey subspecies) and Gould’s.

Each subspecies has their respective territories across Central and North America. Hunters like to have mounts made of turkey tail fans for display.

Male turkeys have a beard, a line of special feathers that appear more hair-like coming from a bud on their chest. A beard is a collection of long strands that can grow to about 12 inches in length.

It does serve a purpose to hens in their selection of mates. Young tom turkeys will have a beard but it is just small and not very long the first and second year of life.

Some females may grow a short beard. Most hens never have a beard.

Wings help this big game bird fly. Once at a full speed of 55 mph, it can travel long distances. The flight is usually very noisy as they get airborne, then level off to glide long distances, or just enough to escape predators. Adult turkeys fly into roost tree branches each early evening to find a perch free of all ground predators.

Between individual turkeys, a pecking order is always being readjusted. Fights between hens or toms will find them using their wings and the spurs on their legs to ward off attacks. Wings are also used to create dust baths of soil or sand. It is comical to observe that behavior.

I noted briefly the spurs, long needle sharp protrusions from the back of the legs. These spurs can inflict blood letting wounds on opponents during pecking order battles.

Spurs tend to be short on immature toms and get longer as the male turkey ages. Spurs 1.5 inches long are common. Two inch spurs are about as long as they grow.

I hope you will have opportunities to observe wild turkeys either during a hike you may take along a trail, or just the fate of good circumstances of being in the right place at the right time. Mother Nature always comes through.

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A review of 2024-25 hunting and fur harvest data and trends will be held mid-February across Iowa. The closest for Marshall County will be a meeting on Feb. 19 at 6 pm at Otter Creek Lake Park near Toledo.

The purpose of this review is to learn how past seasons went for hunters, what may need changing or modification, and to take comments from the stakeholders, the public. In the past as I have attended these sessions, I learn a lot about things I do not participate in but still maintain an interest in the overall priorities the DNR may wish to establish as they monitor and manage wildlife and how people may be allowed to interact with wildlife, particularly during hunting seasons.

An update of deer management and any new disease influences is also worthy information.

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During 2024, Hunting and fishing license sales data has been tabulated. These are real time data points that indicate how a large group of people use outdoor adventures and activities as part of their quality of lifestyle regimes. For instance, Iowa residents purchased 32,021 fishing and hunting combination licenses, but there are other options.

For those folks that just fish, 195,615 annual licenses were purchased. Then an additional 8,741 people made a purchase of a lifetime fishing license.

Others opted for a three year fishing privilege from 16,110 people. There were other fishing options also but of lesser numbers.

Hunters paid for 40,439 annual licenses. There were 50,252 additional hunt licenses with the habitat fee combination. Lifetime hunting sales found 3,642 more people. There is a three year long hunt license option that had 6,673 folks finding that a good fit for them. Migratory bird fees went to 25,177 people.

Deer license sales had these totals: 13,287 youth tags; 279 disabled hunter general deer tags; 53,035 archery deer licenses; 5,767 early muzzleloader general deer tags; 41,704 first shotgun season; 44,170 second shotgun season tags and lastly 17,306 late muzzleloader deer tags sold.

Furharvester licenses had 13,605 people aged 16 or older take this option. For young folks aged 15 or younger, that sale went to 387. Lifetime furharvester licenses went to 398 people.

There are more categories but the above items help paint a picture of outdoor enthusiasts who like to fish, hunt or trap for their recreational outlets.

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The late David Lynch, a filmmaker and artist, said this: “Ideas are like fish. If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you’ve got to go deeper.”

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Garry Brandenburg is the retired director of the Marshall County Conservation Board. He is a graduate of Iowa State University with a BS degree in Fish & Wildlife Biology.

Contact him at:

P.O. Box 96

Albion, IA 50005