Wild Turkey
There is no mistaking a wild turkey. From beak to tail-tip they are
36-48 inches long and have a wingspan of 48 inches. Females can weigh up
to 15 pounds and males more than 20 pounds. Their body feathers are iridescent
dark brown, but appear black under most light conditions. Rump feathers
are cinnamon brown and long tail feathers are chocolate tipped. Adult males
---"Tom's or "Gobblers"---have a featherless head covered with caruncles
(fatty, wart-like growths on the upper neck and head), wattling (fleshy
lobes hanging from the throat or chin), a frontal caruncle (oblong, fleshy
appendix attached above the bill), a spur located above the foot, and a
beard, consisting of a tuft of continuously growing bristle-like feathers,
located in the center of the breast. (A few hens also have beards)
During the spring mating season, gobblers are often
seen in fields with their tail and wing feathers fanned out, strutting
among a harem of hens. Hens lay a clutch of a dozen or so eggs in
a ground nest in early May which hatch around the end of the month. Poults
travel with hens throughout the summer and fall. They can fly in just a
few weeks and usually do so when disturbed. Adult birds with poults will
usually run rather than fly.
Turkey eat almost anything they can get into their
mouth, including: shoots of grasses and sedges; buds, flowers, and leaves
of shrubs and trees; roots, tubers and bulbs of perennials; berries,
wild cherry, beechnuts, wild grape and apple; insects, snails, grubs, slugs
and crustaceans; grains and corn. Large patches of disturbed leaves on
the forest floor are usually the result of turkeys looking for food. During
the winter they are often seen feeding in cut-over cornfields and on spread-manure.
(Internet file image)
Ruffed Grouse
(Partridge)
Ruffed grouse are often seen walking along trails or back roads, or
rocketing through the woods like a mottled brown chickens bent on destruction.
They are 17 inches from beak to tail-tip and have a
23-inch wingspan, and can weigh a whopping 2 pounds. Their color varies
from reddish-brown to grayish-brown.
During
the spring mating seasons, males set up a reception site, usually a log,
where they drum their wings to attract females. The drumming which
starts out slowly and increases to a rapid beat, sounds like a 2-cycle
gasoline engine. To further entice hens, the cock fans its tail, wings
and the iridescent "ruff" of black feathers around its neck. Hens lay a
clutch of around a dozen eggs in a ground nest which hatch in late
spring. Hens traveling with chicks will almost always put on a broken wing
"act" when disturbed.
Their absolute favorite food is the buds, catkins
and leaves of aspen (poplar), but they also eat the fruits and/or seeds
of cherry, ash, thornapple, apple strawberry, raspberry and blackberry.
When such food is near heavy conifer cover, ruffed grouse flourish.
Grouse are well adapted for cold and snowy winters.
Feathered feet allow it to walk atop fluffy snow. To insure protection
from the cold, it burrows into soft snow. More than one hunter
or snowshoer has experienced the heart-thumping thrill of a partridge rocketing
out of the snow practically underfoot.
Turkey
Vulture
Once an oddity in the Mohawk Valley, these huge birds are commonly
seen soaring over almost every area of the valley, but are most abundant
near the rock ledges at Little Falls and The Noses. It's in these areas
that they nest, roost and ride the updrafts in search of food.
An
adult turkey vulture can be 25 inches long with a wingspan of 72 inches.
Body and wing feathers are dark brown. Its red head is relatively small
and unfeathered (similar to a turkey) with a yellowish, hooked bill.
Its short, thick legs are reddish. Male and female look the same. An
immature bird looks the same as an adult except its head, bill and legs
are grey.
Despite its huge size and imposing demeanor, the
turkey vulture's claws and beak are not strong enough to kill even small
animals or tear into fresh meat. Therefore, it feeds on dead animals and
a variety of vegetation, including grass, leaves, seeds and even pumpkins.
It finds food by sight and also by an acute sense of smell. Fortunately,
its digestive system has the unique ability to kill any virus and bacteria
in the "rotten" food it eats.
Turkey Vultures don't build a nest, but simply lay
two eggs on the bare ground, on a rock ledge, on the face of a cliff, in
a cave or hollow tree. While soaring they are easy to identify because
they hold their wings in a "V" shape and seldom flap. Most other large
birds hold their wings straight out and flap frequently. On the ground
they look like a big black "eagle" with a turkey head.
(Internet file photos)
Great Blue Heron
Once
a rare sight, the great blue heron can be found on every stream, lake and
pond in the valley during all seasons except late winter. The great blue
is our largest bird with a wingspan of up to six feet. Standing on long
legs, it's three feet tall. Its upper body is dark gray; lower body light
gray; head white with a black crest, and wings a dark gray-blue with black
shoulders. Females and males look the same.Tree-top nests are constructed
of sticks lined with reeds, mosses and grasses to help cushion three
to seven eggs that are laid in early Spring. Eggs hatch after about 28
days, and both parents care for the chicks. A great blue wades in shallow
water to catch fish with its long bill. When not wading, it stands on logs
and rocks, or perches in streamside trees. When disturbed, it often squawks
displeasure.
The
mallard is the most common and one of the largest ducks in the Mohawk Valley.
Fairly abundant on the river, tributaries, ponds and lakes during the spring
nesting season, less so in late summer and fall when young require
less cover and can fly to other food sources. Hens lay a clutch of a dozen
or so eggs in a ground nest from early May to early June which hatch a
month later. Mallards are often seen in harvested cornfields.
Both male and female have off-white under wings and a blue bar with white border (speculum) on top of wings. Female is mottled brown. Male has a green head, white neck band, brown breast and gray body. Males and females look alike after molting in June and well into September.
Adults and young feed on insects and crustaceans in spring; seeds and plants as the season progresses. They like grains and love corn. When not feeding, mallards sit high on the water or rest on rocks, logs or along shoreline. Adults literally jump off the water when disturbed. Hens with young seek shoreline cover. Calls are a variety of loud quacks.
