Bird Notes
Bird Notes 3/13/08
Mar 13, 2008

John Bowman%u2019s resident tom is %u201Cstrutting,%u201D a display typical in March and April.

Strutting his stuff

Remember the resident Wild Turkey from Bryam? As reported here in January, a tom had been showing up daily for hand-outs at the house of John Bowman in this fairly densely populated section of lower Greenwich between I-95 and Route 1.

Well, the tom’s still there. And he’s pretty fussy about his food.

“He still comes by almost every day,” John reports. “He likes apples a lot. A funny thing about how he eats them. He will not eat small pieces of apple that I chop up. He only eats them when I cut them in half. He eats by picking up the apple, then breaking off a bite-sized piece by shaking his head so just that small piece in his beak stays and the apple falls to the ground. Smaller pieces, if I chop it smaller, won’t break off when he picks them up so he doesn’t really bother with them.

“He will eat the insides out of a half-apple using this lift and drop method. It is quite a sight.”

John also provides sunflower seeds and turkey feed, but the bird still eats wild food. “I don’t think he’s become reliant because he still grazes the lawn at my house for hours and sometimes doesn’t come for three to four days, but he clearly sees my house as his home. Most days he comes in the morning and I feed him and he comes at dusk and either I or my wife feed him.

“Sometimes he hangs out all day, staring at the chrome bumper on my neighbor’s truck or the mirror I bought him. He likes to look at himself.”

John says that as a result of January’s column, a neighbor called and reported that “she feeds him, too, but just old bread. Also from your article I heard from my dentist, who lives on the other side of Byram Park. Evidently turkeys are quite populous over there and he sees flocks of them all the time and poults every spring, so I’m guessing my turkey can find some mates without having to travel very far.”

The tom has “started something new: gobbling, very loud gobbling. At 6:30 this morning, I awoke to a strange sound. I looked out my window and he was in the middle of my lawn, fully displaying his wings and fan, gobbling very loud. This went on for at least half an hour.

“Lots of joggers go by and they were stopping to look at him gobble and, of course, his beautiful feather display.

“Any idea what he could be gobbling about? He’s never made much more than a very quiet clucking sound that you couldn’t hear from more than about five feet. This is really new. There were no other turkeys or other animals around. He was in the middle of a half-acre field, just gobbling for no apparent reason. He’s been displaying much more lately without provocation, so I have my suspicions that love is in the air for him and this is the turkey version of match.com — no Internet, just yell for a date.”

John is right on target. ‘Tis the season of love and for a male turkey, that means showing off, vocally and with fancy courtship displays — which John excellently captures in the accompanying photo.

At this time of year, you are apt to hear a lot of gobbling, which is aimed at attracting females. Usually, the elaborate, puffed-up feather displays, called “strutting,” are staged once a potential mate is nearby.

Incidentally, toms made lousy dads. They are polygamous and do nothing to care for the poults. In fact, one ornithologist believes that, after mating, the females deliberately hide their ground nests from the males, apparently fearing the amorous toms might crush the eggs while trying to have their way with them.

Sightings
Tibby Clark of Pound Ridge, N.Y., reports, “Two weeks ago I saw three flickers, three cowbirds and two Red-winged Blackbirds. Today, March 5, I have a huge flock of purple grackles who have been munching at my feeders for two days, non-stop. Today, about 30 Red-winged Blackbirds arrived, along with about 20 cowbirds. Spring must not be far behind.”

Linda Maggs of Ridgefield reported March 5, “Have just seen Red-winged Blackbirds and grackles at our feeders.”

Eileen Ast of New Canaan recently had “dozens if not hundreds of robins landing in trees and bushes in my back yard.” Pretty soon, those big flocks of robins, which spend the winter hunting fruits, berries and seeds, will be breaking up into pairs to prepare for the nesting season.

Coming Up
Wild Bird Nestbox Workshop, bluebirds, wrens, swallows, and owls Saturday, March 15,1:30 to 3 p.m., Audubon Greenwich, 613 Riversville Road, 203-869-5272 x221, greenwich.audubon.org

Woodcock Courtship Watch, spring tradition, Saturday, March 15, 7 to 8 p.m., Audubon Greenwich, 613 Riversville Road, 203-869-5272 x221, greenwich.audubon.org

Field Trip to Jones Beach, with Joan and Richard Becker, shore and migrating species, bring lunch, Saturday, March 15, leave by 7:30 a.m. from Katonah, Bedford Audubon, register with Joan Becker, jebecker@bedfordaudubon.org or 914- 232-4806.

Eagle Viewing Boats Tours, through March 16, Tuesdays/Thursdays, 10 a.m., Saturdays and Sundays, 9 and 11, Connecticut Audubon Society, 860-767-0660, pwood@ctaudubon.org

Bird Conservation, with Patrick Comins, director of bird conservation for Audubon Connecticut, Thursday, March 20, 7 p.m., Western Connecticut Bird Club, Southbury Library, 203-426-3901

Beginning Birding, class, all ages, Saturday, March 22, 9:30 to noon, free, Audubon Greenwich, 613 Riversville Road, Greenwich, register 203-869-5272 x221, greenwich.audubon.org

Osprey Cruise on Connecticut River, Saturday, April 12, 10 to 11:30 a.m, $35, Connecticut Audubon, 860-767-0660, pwood@ctaudubon.org

Bird walks with Luke Tiller, mostly Saturdays at 8 a.m.: March 15, Fairfield County Reservoir Tour; Sunday, March 30, Sherwood Island; April 15, Compo to Sasco Beach Tour; April 19, Wilton Birding; May 3, Poverty Hollow; May 10, Saugatuck Falls; $10 each; to register, www.sunrisebirding.com/walks.htm; 203-981-9924, luke.tiller@gmail.com.

First Sundays, birding at Greenwich Point with Meredith Sampson of Wild Wings, and other guides, April 6, May 4, 9 a.m., meet at the second concession stand, 203-637-9822.

Bird walks, first Saturday at 7:30 a.m., free, meet at Wild Bird Center of Norwalk, 335 Westport Avenue (Route 1), www.wildbird.com/Norwalk, 203-846-BIRD.