NATURALLY
The owl flew as if its wings were oars, rowing through the air. I watched a fox squirrel carrying an ear of corn excavated from the snow in the middle of what had been a large cornfield. There were no trees and only a few utility poles where a hunting hawk might perch. Not much later, I spotted a red fox carrying what appeared to be a cottontail rabbit. Red and gray foxes are similar in name and appearance. Gray foxes have black-tipped tails and red fox tails are tipped in white. The red fox is an opportunist that eats many other things besides rabbits—rats, mice, ground squirrels, birds, snakes, fish, insects, turtles, frogs, berries, fruits, nuts and seeds. Red foxes hunt primarily at night and hide uneaten food under litter or bury it to be eaten later.
I slowed to a crawl as 16 wild turkeys walked or flew in front of my car. They traveled across four lanes of traffic. No turkeys were hit. Jerry Viktora of Ellendale sent me a video of turkeys fighting in January. In the fall, turkeys segregate into groups—young males (jakes) in one group, adult males (toms) in another and the females in a third. Jake groups tend to hang out close to hen flocks. It seems I see more squabbles among the jakes than with the toms or hens. The young birds are trying to find their places in the pecking order. The groups dissolve in the spring. Turkeys survive the winter by feeding on mosses, buds, seeds, fern spores, acorns, scattered corn left after the harvest, seeds beneath birdfeeders and manure piles. Other than an adequate supply of food, they need a safe place to roost in the winter. They try to roost in trees giving thermal protection—pine or oak trees. If they have fed well, they can take the bitter cold. They struggle in deep powdery snow, which makes foraging for food and escaping predators challenging. They can scratch through 6 inches of fluffy snow and a foot of packed snow. When the ground is covered with powdery snow, flocks congregate in stands of pine and other softwoods, trees that hold snow in the canopy, leaving less on the ground for the turkeys to contend with.
The snood is the fleshy flap of skin that hangs off a turkey's beak. The wattle is a fleshy flap of skin under the turkey's chin. Some people call it a dewlap. A male turkey has a beard that hangs from its chest. It’s made of coarse, rough feathers. A beard is 3-4 inches long on a young male and can grow 10 inches or longer on a turkey at least 3 years old. A small percentage (10-20%) of female turkeys have beards. Male turkeys have sharp spurs on the back of their legs that they use when fighting with other turkeys. Caruncles are bumpy patches on a turkey's neck. The caruncles may play a role in attracting a mate.
Q&A
“How long do red-tailed hawks live?” Red-tailed hawks could hang around for a good spell, but most don’t live long. More than 70% survive until fledging. The survival rates plummet after that. More than half of the young hawks perish during the first year and 20% die each year thereafter, based on banding data. The oldest known wild red-tailed hawk was at least 30 years, 8 months old when it died in Michigan in 2011. It had been banded in that state in 1981. Most live less than two years.
“I went to a raptor show and the bird handlers were giggling about slicing. I know what slicing is in golf, but what were they talking about?” Slicing is a term used by falconers and other raptor folks to describe the way a hawk defecates. Bird poop is brownish, the white pasty excrement is uric acid, the equivalent to a mammal’s urine. Eating mostly fish results in mostly white droppings because fish can be absorbed almost completely. This leads to whitewashing. Hawks, falcons and eagles forcefully eject their droppings, shooting them away from the nest to keep things sanitary. This process is called slicing.
“What kind of insect is a white sock?” It’s another name for the black fly, buffalo gnat or turkey gnat. Black flies develop in rivers and streams, can fly 10 miles away and be carried farther on the wind. Rubbing imitation vanilla extract on the skin repels them for some people.
Thanks for stopping by
"Our mental life, like a bird's life, seems to be made of an alternation of flights and perchings."—William James.
“Have I gone mad? I'm afraid so. You're entirely Bonkers. But I will tell you a secret, all the best people are.”―”Alice in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll.
Do good.
©️Al Batt 2023
The tail feathers of this lovely hen ring-necked pheasant are showing some winter wear. Photo by Al Batt.
What do you do when you’re diagnosed with cancer and lose your dream job? You hit the bottom in a pit with 200,000 snakes, and discover the pit isn’t the bottom but is the peak. Pat maintains the childhood wonder and amazement in our natural world and that made all the difference. As one who has had cancer, I found the book not only interesting, but inspiring.
