Turkeys in the Snow

In a valley to the south much of the land that had been dairy farms is now devoted to raising cash crops, primarily soybeans and corn. Some portion of those crops end up laying on the ground instead of in grain bins. It’s often called waste grain, but in nature nothing goes to waste.

When the corn in one field was picked, a lot of cobs full of kernels were left on the ground. Since nothing goes to waste, a flock of wild turkeys found the abundance that had been left. The birds had a feast –

This was a mixed flock of hens (females) and jakes (young males with short stubby beards in the middle of their chests) that were feeding on spilled corn.

Most interesting were the birds that were freeing kernels from cobs, they’d grab a kernel or the leaves attached to the cob and shake the cob until kernels broke free –

The turkeys ignored the human with a camera watching them, very different than their usual reaction to people.