{"id":85258,"date":"2021-04-21T05:26:39","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T11:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=85258"},"modified":"2025-05-20T04:56:38","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T09:56:38","slug":"spring-wild-turkey-tom-displaying-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/04\/21\/spring-wild-turkey-tom-displaying-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Wild Turkey Tom Displaying Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WildWild Turkey tom displaying close up \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday morning I spent a bit of time observing and photographing this Wild Turkey tom strutting and displaying in Box Elder County<\/span><\/a>, Utah. There was a flock of about 20 to 25 male and female turkeys in my view. This male seemed the most intent on strutting and displaying for the hens so I had him in my viewfinder more often than the other turkeys. The light was nice, the temp was on the cool side, and as the tom strutted he called and gobbled<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

I noticed that this tom turkey’s snood and dewlap were the most prominent and colorful of the male turkeys in this small flock.<\/p>\n

\"TomTom Wild Turkey displaying in northern Utah \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

It was challenging to photograph the tom out in the open and by himself because the slope was dotted with sage and rabbitbrush plus the other nearby turkeys were often included in the images I took of him. I managed to take a few photos where he was by himself though.<\/p>\n

There are times when I hear Wild Turkeys before I see them but yesterday I spotted these crossing a road before the male started displaying and calling. I only had the turkeys in sight for about three minutes and then they walked into the sage and practically disappeared from my view.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Wild Turkey photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday morning I spent a bit of time observing and photographing this Wild Turkey tom strutting and displaying in Box Elder County, Utah.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":145391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1148,26,3793],"tags":[4004,3535,2158,4098,6525,779,4062,3795,9604,165,5502,3796,5501,401,3794],"class_list":["post-85258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","category-wild-turkeys","tag-adult","tag-courtship-behavior","tag-courtship-display","tag-desert","tag-dewlap","tag-displaying","tag-male","tag-meleagris-gallopavo","tag-snood","tag-spring","tag-tom","tag-turkey","tag-turkeys","tag-upland-game-birds","tag-wild-turkey"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/wild-turkey-tom-displaying-mia-mcpherson-7416.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-mb8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":81681,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/03\/17\/spring-wild-turkey-tom-displays\/","url_meta":{"origin":85258,"position":0},"title":"Spring Wild Turkey Tom Displays","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The last time I was up in the Wasatch Mountains I found a Wild Turkey tom displaying next to some old farm equipment for the nearby hens.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tom Wild Turkey strutting in spring, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/wild-turkey-tom-displaying-mountains-mia-mcpherson-1248.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/wild-turkey-tom-displaying-mountains-mia-mcpherson-1248.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/wild-turkey-tom-displaying-mountains-mia-mcpherson-1248.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/wild-turkey-tom-displaying-mountains-mia-mcpherson-1248.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":68216,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/04\/10\/west-desert-wild-turkey-tom-strutting-and-displaying\/","url_meta":{"origin":85258,"position":1},"title":"West Desert Wild Turkey Tom Strutting And Displaying","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I took hundreds of photos of the tom Wild Turkey fanning his tail, walking on the dirt road, strutting and displaying for the hens I could not see. And for those moments all seemed right in the world.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Wild Turkey tom displaying after an April snow, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/wild-turkey-tom-displaying-mia-mcpherson-0941.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/wild-turkey-tom-displaying-mia-mcpherson-0941.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/wild-turkey-tom-displaying-mia-mcpherson-0941.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/wild-turkey-tom-displaying-mia-mcpherson-0941.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning the first birds I focused on taking photos of were Wild Turkey toms as they displayed for each other on desert ranchlands in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two Wild Turkey toms facing off, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wild-turkey-toms-two-close-mia-mcpherson-3808.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wild-turkey-toms-two-close-mia-mcpherson-3808.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wild-turkey-toms-two-close-mia-mcpherson-3808.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"February 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Last month while up in Box Elder County looking for birds I spotted this Wild Turkey hen perched in a Netleaf Hackberry tree not long before noon.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Wild Turkey hen perched in a Netleaf Hackberry, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/wild-turkey-hen-netleaf-hackberry-mia-mcpherson-0095.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/wild-turkey-hen-netleaf-hackberry-mia-mcpherson-0095.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/wild-turkey-hen-netleaf-hackberry-mia-mcpherson-0095.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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