Chick Flick

After weeks in hiding, the hen Ocellated Turkeys (Meleagris ocellata) are finally bringing their chicks out into the world. These chicks were spotted over the weekend and while the hen was cautious, she did permit a few photographs. In total, I counted a dozen young, which is a pretty good result. Turkeys are among those species that have an abundance of young which are subject to predation from a wide variety of animals. So while the hen may start with 12 chicks, she may only manage to raise one. Still, that is good enough to make this endangered species prolific here on the Gallon Jug Estate. The Ocellated Turkey has become scarce in most of its range due to hunting pressure where it is not protected.