This is Bird No.

Take a close look at a male wild turkey if you dare.

This turkey is a hefty four feet of bird, tail-tip to beak.

Its handsome dark and densely feathered body is topped by a bare neck, and there, dangling

from the chin is a wrinkly mass of bumpy, warty-looking red skin, the waddle.

Why have a waddle?

Waddles are an adaptive feature that come in handy in several ways.

On a hot day with the sun bearing down, the bare skin of neck and waddle helps release

excess heat.

Birds don't sweat.

They can't sweat, so the turkey is otherwise trapped in its dense, dark feathers.

Waddles have other roles to play.

When the male turkey gets to courting the hands, the waddle takes center-stage.

Extra blood rushes in, and the waddle glows bright scarlet for maximum visual impact.

If a predator appears, sparking a moment of fear, the blood may retract from the waddle,

turning it blue.

Many birds have waddles, including some storks, plovers, pheasants, bellbirds, cassowaries,

and of course, the rooster in the barnyard.

Are they pretty?

In the right bird's eye, no doubt.

For Bird Note, I'm Michael Stein.

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