Cain Bowyer of Buchanan brought home this unusual 23-pound gobbler Saturday morning while hunting with Gerald Austin near Buchanan.

The gobbler had an 8.5-inch beard, and unusual coloration and odd primary wing feathers. Feather color on part of the wings was almost orange, and the tail coloration had an orange tint as well. Some of the wing feathers were also hair-like rather than fine feathers. Department of Game and Inland Fisheries turkey biologist Gary Norman attributed the color to a natural genetic variation. He added after seeing photographs of the gobbler, “However, this bird seems to show characteristics of several different color phases.” He attributed the tail colors to an eurthritic condition he saw once in a Craig County turkey he trapped.  It was distinctly red in color and there were no black feathers. He said this gobbler’s wing primaries look like smoky gray phase (no red or brown).  “I’ve never seen one but people have sent me a lot of pictures— again a natural genetic thing.” He said he’s not seen the hair like feathers either and had not seen this anywhere in scientific literature. “Pretty interesting bird— most all of the birds I’ve seen only have one genetic abnormality— this bird seems to have a combination.  Pretty cool. This one would be a good candidate for a taxidermy mount,” he added. The gobbler is already at the taxidermist.

Photo by Ed McCoy