This brief connection stimulated the transfer of sperms into the hen’s vent, and in one mating, they can exchange several kisses. The female positions herself so that her cloaca touches her yearning mate, a split-second touch called the cloacal kiss. When the tom is ready to mate, he mounts the hen, and his cloaca swells to protrude outside his body. Located in the extreme lower abdomen, this opening is used by both male and female turkeys to store and transfer sperm. ![]() It’s the single posterior vent on a turkey’s digestive tract used for feces ejection, laying eggs, and sex. The fundamental organ of turkey copulation, as with most birds, is the cloaca. Understanding turkey mating will help develop a strategy since sometimes you can get as close as touching the tail feathers. Whether you are using gobbling calls or hen purrs, it’ll be long before a genuine longbeard can show for a shot. When engaged in sexual activity, trophy gobblers are difficult to call. How Do Turkey Toms Inseminate Their Hens? She’ll walk around and then return to lay in front of him for another round. Afterward, the gobbler will step off while the female shakes her feathers. Once the tom is on her back, she lifts her tail to let him access her cloaca, where he deposits sperm. The hen initiates copulation as she fans her tail invitingly for the gobbler to wiggle on top of her. This act gets the gobbler extremely excited, and you can see the blood rushing into his snood while he puffs up even larger. A tom that locks into a sexual ballet with a female will pursue her, circle, and fan until she lies down in front of him. When a big gobbler has caught the attention of a receptive hen, he’s unaware of everything else. These caruncles, nodules, and bumps droop over his neck, while dewlaps or wattle are attached to his throat. The tom’s head, which is completely bare of feathers, has fleshy baubles and nobs that change color during breeding. This circling dance around one spot is designed to entice hens into mating. Every turkey hunter has also heard the drumming vocalization, a sort of spit and vroom that resonates from the aroused male’s chest. Mighty toms puff themselves up to incredible sizes, dragging their primary wing feathers and reflecting the iridescent sunlight of spring. You’ve seen gobblers strutting, large toms that spread their fans while taking choppy, short steps to pirouette after hens. How Do Toms Balance Themselves on Top of Hens to Mate? When she’s laid about a dozen eggs, the female turkey becomes antisocial and reclusive in readiness for nesting. ![]() Sperm is stored in the oviduct, and it can stay there for over 50 days. Long-range roost gobbles are then replaced with close-range strutting, including drumming, puffing, and tons of spitting.Ī hen uses her suitor’s sperm to fertilize her egg clutch, which she lays one a day for a couple of weeks. Turkeys don’t practice monogamy, and the gobbling only dies down when the tom is in the company of willing hens. According to ornithologists, the snood’s length acts as a signal of the bird’s dominance.ĭuring this springtime rut, dominant toms want to mate with as many hens as they can. Afterward, once grounded, toms will swagger and gobble furiously, chests puffed up, and tail feathers fanned out.Īn erectile fleshy appendage that dangles from their beaks, known as the snood, also engorges blood. The mating ritual begins with loud gobbling, usually from their early morning roost. Before a hen can become impressed enough to sit and let her gallivanting mate climb on board, gobblers must put on an earnest display known as strutting.Īt this point, amorous toms are fully focused on sex, unaware of anything else except to occasionally ward off rival males from sneaking into his harem of hens. Turkey’s breeding season spans from late spring to early summer, a period full of wild mating rituals and lots of puffing up. How Do Turkeys Get Down and Outright Frisky? Let’s dive into a more conclusive description of how turkeys mate and how you can turn this breeding behavior to your advantage. Once the tom mounts on her back, she offers the vent by lifting her tail, and copulation occurs.įor the discerning turkey hunter, it means that both tom and hen are preoccupied, and mating time offers the chance to optimize your gobbling, spitting fully, or drumming calls. As the gobbler advances, the receptive female will lay down on her underside, exposing her dorsal aspect. Every hunter knows the strut when they see gobblers chasing after hens, but how do turkeys mate?Īn intricate and fascinating mating dance ritual takes place, designed to convince a hen to mate with the tom. When you are in the fields for turkeys, understanding their mating behavior can mean filling your tag or finishing the spring with zero for your efforts. ![]() As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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