Asserting dominance

Two evenly matched Merriam Turkey gobblers fight for breeding rights. This is certainly not an image that anyone would consider pretty, but it is an annual Spring happening. The gobblers grab each other by the mouth, sometimes intertwining and twisting necks, raising up on tiptoes, and push and shove to tire the other. In this case the contest lasted several minutes, with both becoming bloody in the mouth and on the parts of the neck where a beak could latch on. In most instances it seems the one with position to hold on to the top of the other beak will ultimately prevail, perhaps by inhibiting the breathing of the other bird. I have seen them get almost the entire head of the other bird in their mouth when one loses his grip on the other, resulting in the near suffocation of the unfortunate one!

D200, 70-200 @200, iso 200, f2.8 @ 1/2000, hand held, and moderately cropped trying to get a composition....



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