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Fightin' Not Struttin'
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Fightin' Not Struttin'

by Peter Cross

Gallery: AvianPosted March 31, 2012303 views3 comments
Another shot from a few days ago that I thought was interesting although not really a good photo. The nature area has a pretty high number of turkeys, perhaps higher than normal for the wild. Turkeys have a pecking order for the distribution of resources instead of defending territories. I don't know what the rules are but one or more of a group of 5-6 turkeys broke a rule and a lot of sqauwking and jumping up with wings flared out ensued. Went on for nearly 5 minutes, then they settled down and resumed strutting and displaying. I hadn't seen this behavior before so thought I'd share it. I cropped it down to about 2/3 original size to focus on the 3 birds that were mixing it up at this time.

Trch info: Canon 60D with 70-200mm f/4L @ 176mm. 1/500th at f/4.0 and ISO 800. Hand held.

Comments

3 comments
Comment posted by Kirk Greene on March 31, 2012 at 6:53 AM
Interesting behavior. I had to look twice..there are actually 3 of them piled up there! An enjoyable 5 minutes I'm sure.
Registered on May 12, 2004, 191 Posts, 1578 Comments
Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on March 31, 2012 at 9:38 AM
You have captured some great behavior, Peter. I'll bet this was really cool to witness.
Registered on February 6, 2008, 168 Posts, 3118 Comments
Comment posted by Dennis Plank on March 31, 2012 at 2:52 PM
Great action, Peter.

:toast:
Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments