The Peculiar Flight of the Wild Turkey

On the day of February 10th around midday, of a chilly overcast day, eleven ice climbers in deep focus, were startled out of their blues by the rarity of a large bird overhead. In Smugglers Notch, a dark silhouette to the sky, this creature held our attention in the silence; we marveled at it's angelic awkwardness. Uncanny. Unfamiliar. Never had I seen a goose with such a wide tail. A hawk with such a long neck. A grouse so large. An owl with such a small head. A peasant. This bird was none of these regular species in the sky; it was a Wild Turkey. I suspect it was a female because of the relatively small size and simplistic markings. She flap-flap-flapped above us and then glided through the air as though magically, her full body, was being held up in the air. So soared out of the woods, and over the cliff above us, thrusting herself through the air and gliding downwards on the currents across the notch and to the far side. She landed hundreds, if not a thousand feet away in the deciduous trees on the opposite slope. I stood, stunned. Despite having wings with such a low aspect ratio, short, and wide, and such a heavy body, she was still able to fly so gracefully when she glided. The turkey flies most like the ruffed grouse where it takes a lot of effort for the bird to take off from the ground but once in flight they have to flap a lot to stay aloft. Both are found on the forest floor feeding a lot and roosting in trees where they often feed on buds.

Posted on February 17, 2018 03:47 AM by jnorris2