turkey beard

Turkey Beards

If you’ve seen a male wild turkey, you likely noticed a shock of long, dark, fibrous bristles hanging from its breast plumage. That’s called a beard, and it’s made of modified feathers. Male turkeys, called gobblers – and some female turkeys, called hens – have beards.

Does a turkey lose its beard?

Turkey Beards

Sometimes toms even get multiple beards, which can be another good sign of maturity. On the other hand, sometimes toms lose their beards or wear them down over time, or jakes will sport long or double beards.

How old is a turkey with a 9 inch beard?

Some say that any bird over 20 pounds is at least three years old. Others say that a 9-inch beard is a sure sign that your turkey is at least 4 years old.

How do you tell if a turkey has a beard?

The male birds have a large, dark-colored chest, which on most species looks black, with a tuft of course hair protruding from the center, which is called a “beard.” While a jake will have a very short beard, and sometimes just stumble, a mature tom’s beard will be quite long, especially on the Eastern wild turkey.

How old is a turkey with a 6 inch beard?

As biology tells us, the beard starts to grow when the young male turkey (or in some cases, female) is roughly five months old. That bird will add five inches annually on average. And a legal fall gobbler roughly 1.5 years old will often have a 6- to 7-inch beard.

Do all tom turkeys have beards?

The beard of the wild turkey is a group of modified feathers that emerges from a papilla located on the upper portion of the breast. Most gobblers and some hen turkeys have one papilla and develop a single beard. There are some gobblers with multiple beards, and occasionally we encounter a gobbler that is beardless.

What is a good size turkey beard?

unless the turkey is a jake and has a typical 3- to 4-inch jake beard. The beards of male turkeys grow about 4 to 5 inches per year, so a 2-year-old gobbler will have a typical beard of about 9 inches.

What is the longest turkey beard ever recorded?

The current record for beard length is held by Steve Overton of Sharp County, Arkansas. He shot an Eastern Turkey in April of 2000 with a 17.62-inch beard.

What is a trophy turkey?

Any bird with a beard might be called a trophy: jake, adult tom and even a fall turkey hen wearing one. For turkey hunters, most are memorable for many reasons (even those you don’t kill).

How old is a turkey with 1 inch spurs?

Gobblers with spurs one-half inch or less are juveniles, 5/8 inch up to 1 inch are 2-year-olds, 1 to 1 3/8 inches are 3-year-olds and birds with spurs greater than 1 3/8 inches are older than three years. Gobblers with longer spurs (1½ to 2 inches) probably range in age from 5 to 8 or more years.

What does the wattle on a turkey do?

Why have a wattle? Wattles are an adaptive feature that come in handy in several ways. On a hot day, with the sun bearing down, the bare skin of neck and wattle helps release excess heat. Birds don’t sweat—they can’t sweat—so the turkey is otherwise trapped in its dense, dark feathers.

How rare is a double bearded turkey?

“Multiple beards on a bird is not a common occurrence, with estimates suggesting that less than 10% of toms sport more than one beard,” said Dr. Mike Chamberlain, our favorite wild turkey researcher, from the University of Georgia.

Can you tell the age of a turkey by the length of its beard?

The beard length is only partially helpful in determining the age of a gobbler because after a bird reaches the age of 2 when the beard reaches a length of 9″ to 10″ and it starts to wear down at the tip. When the bird feeds, the beards tip is worn by both getting stepped on by the tom and by dragging on the ground.

Does a turkey lose its beard?

Do all tom turkeys have beards?

How old is a turkey with 1 inch spurs?

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