Expert: Julia Booth - 4/12/2009

Question
Hi!, im on my holidays and i went to a farm nearby (open to public) and there was a bird section there i saw a turkey, he was with a female and had huge feathers, but the thing that was the weirdest of all was that he made drone!!!... then a mobile vibration noise which resulted in him puffing out his feathers!! what do u call this and what do they do it for.It normally happened before he started walking. the phone vibration noise lasting about 5 seconds, it was almost like the noises were coming from his feathers.
i hope you can answer this question coz it was the weirdest noise i have ever heard!! lmao

Answer
That's a mating display. He was attempting to impress the females with his breeding plumage. The sound -I believe- comes from his chest, although there are some birds, like mourning doves, that are able to produce noise through their feathers.

Only the males make that sound, and the gobbling one they are so famous for.

It's creepy, no? But the females like it, I guess.

Hope this helps you,


Julia