Three Wild Turkeys Ready to Mix it Up in the Dish Area

These photos by Dave Madwed were captured from his video, a short clip of which is shown below.

Note the turkey "beards" (collections of long, thin feathers protruding from the breast). It is said that it may take a male three years to grow a beard reaching 10 inches. What sort of visual cue the beards provide is unclear. In some populations about 20 percent of females produce them, as well.