ORLANDO, Fla. – To gobble or not to gobble — that’s the question the turkey has for the meteorologist.
Did you know that when the weather changes, it changes how a turkey gobbles? You betcha!
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According to the National Wild Turkey Federation, there's a science behind gobbling and weather is a big part of it.
Everything from temperature to pressure, and even wind speed all can change that famous gobble. Studies show that turkeys prefer it to be in the 60s for peak gobbling activity. Any warmer and they don’t gobble as much.
Not only do the birds like it cool outside, but they also prefer high pressure, which is associated with nice weather like sunny skies. Researchers showed that when the barometric pressure dropped below 29.7 inches the birds were much quieter. They probably like to watch movies on rainy days too.
Back to the turkey science.
In the studies, wind direction didn't change the rate at which turkeys gobbled, but wind speed did. Turkeys tended to chat more with winds between 3 and 6 mph. The higher the wind speed, the less the turkey would blurt out gobbles.
Of course, there are other factors that can make the bird gobble more or less. Some of those include age and if there are hens in the area.
So there you have it — the better the weather, the happier the turkey. When it’s nice outside, they’ll be out and about to gobble it up.
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