“Let’s Talk Turkey:  Part 1”  

By Gary Ramsey, Published in the Adirondack Express on April 15th , 2008

 

The wild turkey is the largest upland game bird species.  The eastern wild turkey, found throughout most of the eastern US, is the most abundant of the five subspecies and the only subspecies in NY.  To the avid hunter, the onset of spring means one thing -- turkey season!  In upstate New York the spring turkey season runs through the month of May.  There is a special youth season April 26^th & 27^th where hunters 12 to 15 years of age can harvest one long beard if accompanied by an adult hunter. 

 

Turkeys, like most birds, sleep in trees to avoid predators.  Their feet have developed in manner that allows them to wrap around and stay “locked on” a limb while they sleep, which prevents them from falling during the night.  Turkeys require a combination of trees for roosting, a reliable water source and an open feeding area.  Wild turkeys move seasonally between nesting and wintering areas, but seldom travel more than two miles. Wild turkeys eat mostly plant material, including fruits, acorns and other nuts, small grains, and the seeds, shoots and roots of grasses and various other plants. When available, acorns will comprise 30 to 40% of a turkey’s diet.  Wild turkeys gather in wintering flocks of less than a dozen to several hundred birds. In spring, just before the mating season, this large flock divides into three sexually segregated groups: hens, jakes (young male birds) and toms. In the latter, a single tom emerges to do most of the breeding.

 

Strong senses of sight and hearing are the wild turkey’s primary defense against predators. Since turkeys are very skittish, the slightest movement or sound that they can not identify will send them bolting in the opposite direction.   Turkeys can run over 20 mph and fly up to speeds of 40 mph.  When spooked, they will run and fly to survive making them very challenging to hunt.

 

Turkeys are very socially interactive birds and it is estimated that they make over twenty different vocalizations to communicate.  Their language is complex and wildlife researchers are still learning more about it.  Although you don’t need to be a wildlife expert in order to outsmart a wily old tom, you do need a basic understanding of  “turkey talk” to be successful.  Vocalizations can be divided into four categories:  general communication, feeding, alarm and breeding.  The basic vocalizations include yelps, gobbles, purrs, clucks, cutts, cackles and young bird sounds. 

 

General Communication

 

The basic yelp is a distinctive two-note call, “keowk, keowk,” and the most common.  The plain yelp is 4 to 8 “flat” notes.  It does not have a lot of “emotion” or volume.  The turkey is saying, “Just wanted you to know I am over here.” 

The tree yelp is the wake up call and used by turkeys while still on the limb to let others know they are awake.  It is a very soft and low volume clear two-note yelp, yelp, yelp, yelp. 

 

A cackle is continuous flow of rapid but evenly spaced cluck-like sounds that is usually made by a flying bird.  It usually means “I’m flying down now” or I’m flying up now.”

 

Young birds make a high pitched whistle, “peep, peep, peep, peep” to stay in contact with the hen. 

Later on in the year, the whistle becomes a lower “kee, kee, kee” as their voices mature. 

 

Feeding

 

Turkeys do not like to feed close to each other, so they will make a soft purring sound to keep somewhat apart yet together as a group.  Single clucks are a close range call and used to say “I‘m right here”  It is a sharp, short sound and is used to get the visual attention of other birds.  Turkeys will use a combination of Clucks and Purrs while feeding.

 

Alarm

 

The lost yelp is like the plain yelp but contains at least 20 notes and becomes louder at the end of the call.  Often the bird’s voice will break up as it gets louder and more excited.  The turkey is saying “I am lost, I am lost, where are you.” 

The assembly yelp is a dominant hen yelp that she uses to reunite her flock.  It is a very secure sound and is 25 or more notes.  It will often start off slow and soft and build up in volume at the end.  It is similar to the Lost Yelp, but does not break up or loose tone quality.  It is saying “OK kids, time to come in now.”

The Putt is used to warn other turkeys of a potential predator.  This sound is a loud, sharp and deep TUT, TUT, TUT from one to five notes.

 

Breeding

 

Excited yelps, like the plain yelp, only with more emotion and volume, are typically used by hens to call to toms during the mating season.  

 

Tom turkeys gobble to attract hens and to let the other males in the area know they are ready to fight and prove their dominance.  A soft gobble or “tree gobble” is heard early in the morning while the tom is still on the limb.  Gobbling on the ground is much louder and used to telegraph a toms presence to all willing females.  In turkey language, the gobble means “I am ready to breed, come to me now.”  Studies have shown that most of the gobbling takes place about an hour before and after sunrise.

 

A Cutt is a series of clucks that have a distinctive broken rhythm and a high, excited pitch.   Cutting is used by hens when they want to see a tom right away and means “I‘ll come, I’ll come, let me know where you are!”

 

When a tom is strutting for a hen with his fluffed up body and spread tail feathers, he will “Spit and Drum” to attract the hen closer.  The “spit” is actually the wing tips snapping on the ground as the bird exhales.  The “drum” is a vibration of the birds chest feathers.  It’s hard to reproduce, but once you hear the sound, you will always remember it.

 

Now that we understand the basic vocalizations, next month we will look at how to reproduce and use these sounds to successfully harvest the very challenging eastern wild turkey.  We will review the six secrets of turkey hunting, calling tips from the pros and the “art and science” of turkey hunting.