Video: Hen Turkey and Her Two Little Chicks (Ottawa - June 24)

[Justin Hoffman]

Hello All,
Neat to capture this hen turkey and her two little chicks the other day. And who knew they could fly so well at such a small size?



Cheers,
Justin

[rf2]

I had no idea. I assumed they just stayed on the ground until they were considerably bigger. Very cool thing to capture on a trail camera.

[Justin Hoffman]

I had no idea. I assumed they just stayed on the ground until they were considerably bigger. Very cool thing to capture on a trail camera.

I thought the exact same thing! Figured there would be no way they would be flying at such a small size. Always something cool to discover when running cams. Thanks for watching, buddy!

[sabmgb]

I have always been told that they can fly well enough to get up in trees after a couple of days, but never actually seen it.

[rf2]

It seems strange that a bird that spends most of its time on the ground learns to fly earlier than birds that spend most of their time in the air. I did a bit of research, and it seems that turkeys learn to fly after 8-14 days. Eagles learn to fly at about 12 weeks! Grouse also learn to fly early, at about 5 days, while Canada geese learn at 2-3 months. So it looks like there is a huge variation.

[Justin Hoffman]

It seems strange that a bird that spends most of its time on the ground learns to fly earlier than birds that spend most of their time in the air. I did a bit of research, and it seems that turkeys learn to fly after 8-14 days. Eagles learn to fly at about 12 weeks! Grouse also learn to fly early, at about 5 days, while Canada geese learn at 2-3 months. So it looks like there is a huge variation.

Great info, rf2 - and definitely news to me. I guess it makes sense that 'ground' birds learn to fly earlier in order to protect themselves. If I didn't capture footage of those little ones soaring I would never have believed it. Nature definitely is pretty cool!