Can Turkeys Drown in the Rain?

I used to be a child after I first heard that turkeys would drown themselves within the rain. My father, whom I considered a turkey-hunting god, advised me that in a heavy late-spring rain. He stated that turkey poults have been so silly that they’d stare up on the sky making an attempt to determine what was falling on their heads till the water flooded their lungs. He stated it prefer it was the gospel fact, and I by no means questioned the allegation for years. 

My household wasn’t distinctive. The parable that turkeys, notably younger poults, will drown by wanting skyward when it rains is a pervasive one. However as I acquired some turkey-hunting expertise of my very own beneath my belt, my doubts began to develop. If dying by raindrop have been a standard incidence in wild turkey populations, absolutely we’d be stepping over lifeless birds each time we set foot within the woods. I finished believing on this fable some time again, however to settle some remaining questions, I made a decision to dig into the science to see if turkeys actually can drown within the rain or if the assertion is nothing greater than folklore. 

The Delusion’s Origin

So the place did the persistent turkey-drowning legend come from? It’s potential that some poultry farmer noticed his home turkeys performing bird-brained within the rain, gazing as much as the heavens, making an attempt to determine why the sky is falling. Home turkeys have been selectively bred for his or her capacity to achieve weight, so it shouldn’t be a shock that they could lack some mandatory survival abilities. 

Wild turkeys, alternatively, develop up dodging predators. Whereas they won’t be analyzing Shakespeare, they wouldn’t survive within the wild in the event that they have been “dumb.” 

“Turkeys most likely can’t do multivariable calculus or clarify string principle, however then neither can most individuals I do know (me included),” Christopher Elphick, an ornithologist on the College of Connecticut, advised Salon. “At one degree, any organism that may survive and thrive in a continually altering surroundings that they’ve little management over, as turkeys usually do, have to be doing one thing proper.”

What the Consultants Say

Adam Butler is the pinnacle of the Mississippi Division of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks’ Wild Turkey Program. With 16 years of subject expertise with MDWFP, he is aware of a factor or two about wild turkeys. Butler says there’s no fact to the parable. 

“They don’t drown themselves,” Butler tells Out of doors Life. “However there may be validity to the notion that when they’re very younger, and nonetheless coated in down and might’t thermoregulate. In some locations, not essentially within the Deep South, however in different components of the nation, the place you may get a late chilly snap with some chilly rain, it’s potential that they might get chilled sufficient that it may trigger issues, probably even mortality. It’s not that they’re drowning; it’s that they will’t correctly keep their physique temperature.”

Wild turkeys have a respiratory system designed to maintain them respiratory it doesn’t matter what form of climate is anticipated within the forecast. What we consider as nostrils are literally known as nares — two holes on a turkey’s beak. Their trachea leads on to their lungs, and turkeys aren’t usually mouth-breathers. There could also be some slight panting if a chook is sick or extremely hot, however like most birds, turkeys breathe primarily by their nares. So, the concept that one would simply stand there, beak agape, as rainwater fills up its lungs like a rain gauge is fairly ridiculous when you concentrate on it. 

Turkeys even have monocular imaginative and prescient, according to Mike Chamberlain, professor of wildlife ecology and administration on the College of Georgia, which implies their eyes perform independently of each other. This positioning offers a pleasant broad subject of view, which is nice for detecting approaching predators, however not so nice for depth notion. It’s one of many causes turkeys, like most birds, do a whole lot of head bobbing and neck twisting. It additionally means if a turkey needs to get view of one thing, it’s most likely going to cock its head to 1 facet fairly than level its beak straight as much as get a greater view of falling raindrops. 

Turkeys sometimes gaze upward, however they most likely aren’t making an attempt to have a look at passing rainclouds. 

“There are occasions that turkeys could be noticed staring into the sky, however why that happens is just not identified,” Purdue College extension poultry scientist Darrin Karcher once told Fox Weather. “There’s a ‘neurological dysfunction,’ very unusual, that leads to turkeys having a ‘spasm’ the place they’re wanting towards the sky for 30 to 60 seconds of time. Nevertheless, nothing to do with staring into the sky throughout a rain occasion leading to drowning.” 

How Wild Turkeys Deal with the Rain

We’ve established that turkeys aren’t drowning in droves when it drizzles. So, what do they do when the skies open up?

Wild turkeys have a number of traits that assist them cope with moist climate. First, they’ve a gland on the base of their tail that secretes a waxy, oily substance that works splendidly for weatherproofing. Throughout preening, turkeys unfold the substance from their uropygial gland throughout their feathers. Turkeys additionally shake themselves regularly, particularly when it rains, which helps them shed the water droplets that accumulate on their waterproofed feathers. 

Learn Subsequent: Why Do Turkeys Have Snoods?

Turkeys additionally like to go away dense woods to congregate in open fields when the climate will get soggy. Open areas enable for higher airflow, which helps moist feathers dry sooner. Soaked fields and clearings additionally supply a veritable smorgasbord because the saturated floor strikes worms, grubs, and different bugs to the floor, making them straightforward pickings for wild turkeys. 

Last Ideas

Previous legends die exhausting, which might be why the parable that turkeys drown themselves within the rain has existed for therefore lengthy. The reality is that wild turkeys have managed to outlive rainstorms for hundreds of thousands of years. They wouldn’t nonetheless drive hunters loopy every spring in the event that they have been vulnerable to unintentional drowning through precipitation. The truth that we’ve spent a lot time believing a wild chook may drown itself most likely says extra about us than it does about them.