05/23/2026
It’s BOBB season out here folks!!! Big Obnoxious Baby Birds are everywhere! This Hays Woods wild turkey might be leaning more towards teenager than baby at this point. While yinz know to watch out for deer and their fawns in the spring, keep in mind that the young turkeys are also learning their way around this time of year. This fellow was either looking to cross Glass Run Road, or had lost his flock somehow and was disoriented and clucking around the roadside.
Supervised by a ranger he did make it back up the hill and away from the road.
Brother clucker here is a juvenile male turkey, called a “jake”. If he can stay out of trouble he will grow into an adult, called a “tom” or “gobbler”. Female turkeys are called “hens”. Their babies are called “poults”. Young females are “jennies”…. Why so much turkey terminology you ask? As a prized game bird, hunters and biologists developed a large vocabulary around them to help better communicate about the birds.
Wild turkeys are the largest of PA’s native birds by weight. They are capable flyers, but prefer to move around on the ground with their long velociraptor like legs, and will often run from predators rather than fly. This makes them particularly susceptible to car strikes. So watch out when driving particularly in wooded hilly areas. We want to see our BOBBs reach adulthood!
