#17: Stimuli Eliciting Sexual Behavior in Turkeys

Male turkeys aren't fussy. Give them a lifelike model of a female turkey and they'll happily try to mate with it as eagerly as they would with the real thing.



This observation intrigued Martin Schein and Edgar Hale of the University of Pennsylvania, and made them curious about what might be the minimal stimulus required to excite a turkey. They embarked on a series of experiments to find out. This involved removing parts from the turkey model one by one, until the male turkey eventually lost interest.



Tail, feet, and wings were all removed, but still the clueless bird waddled up to the model, let out an amorous gobble, and tried to do his thing. Finally, the researchers were left with a head on a stick. And surprisingly, the male turkey still showed great interest. In fact, it preferred a head on a stick over a headless body.



Schein and Hale subsequently investigated how minimal they could make the head itself before it failed to elicit a response. They discovered that freshly severed female heads impaled on sticks worked best, but if the male turkey had nothing else it would settle for a plain balsa wood head. Turkeys evidently adhere to the philosophy that if you can't be with the one you love, then love the one you're with.



Curious about the mating habits of other poultry, Schein and Hale performed similar tests on White Leghorn Cocks. For those curious, they published their results in an article that boasts one of the most evocative titles in all of science: "Effects of morphological variations of chicken models on sexual responses of cocks." Male turkeys aren't fussy. Give them a lifelike model of a female turkey and they'll happily try to mate with it as eagerly as they would with the real thing.This observation intrigued Martin Schein and Edgar Hale of the University of Pennsylvania, and made them curious about what might be the minimal stimulus required to excite a turkey. They embarked on a series of experiments to find out. This involved removing parts from the turkey model one by one, until the male turkey eventually lost interest.Tail, feet, and wings were all removed, but still the clueless bird waddled up to the model, let out an amorous gobble, and tried to do his thing. Finally, the researchers were left with a head on a stick. And surprisingly, the male turkey still showed great interest. In fact, it preferred a head on a stick over a headless body.Schein and Hale subsequently investigated how minimal they could make the head itself before it failed to elicit a response. They discovered that freshly severed female heads impaled on sticks worked best, but if the male turkey had nothing else it would settle for a plain balsa wood head. Turkeys evidently adhere to the philosophy that if you can't be with the one you love, then love the one you're with.Curious about the mating habits of other poultry, Schein and Hale performed similar tests on White Leghorn Cocks. For those curious, they published their results in an article that boasts one of the most evocative titles in all of science: "Effects of morphological variations of chicken models on sexual responses of cocks."

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Total Comments: 8

Total Comments: 8

Comments

Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.

Posted by gott on Thu Sep 13, 2007 at 06:45 PM

Posted by John S on Sat Sep 22, 2007 at 03:36 AM

Posted by unohoo on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 07:27 PM

Posted by Ryan on Sun May 04, 2008 at 09:02 AM

Posted by Paris Hilton on Thu Aug 28, 2008 at 10:44 AM

Posted by Reese on Mon Feb 16, 2009 at 02:23 PM

Posted by julien kwashie setor on Wed May 19, 2010 at 03:44 AM

Posted by Anon on Sun Dec 12, 2010 at 09:53 PM

Not surprising to a quaker parrot owner. My bird will mate with a food bowl, a piece of broccoli. anything that sits still. These scientests are definately not parrot owners.Men using blowup dolls and artificial vaginas from "sex toy" manufacturers aren't much different.There's also Portnoy masturbating with a piece of raw liver, and the kid in the "American Pie" movie...Is this why many women call men turkeys?Reminds me of the movie "Boxing Helena"A turkey isn't a damn quacker parrot. Many people think they are stupid. They aren't. In fact if you have ever tried to hunt one,you'll find out that they have very good sight and their smart enough to fly away. In fact, a deer will do the same thing as a turkey, it will go after a saw horse with a deer head on it.I once dressed up in a turkey costume to see if I could get a turkey to mate with me. Ah, he was the best lover I've ever had."They discovered that freshly severed female heads impaled on sticks worked best"Award for most ghoulish phase I've heard this year!Turkey,s sexual behaviour as demonstrated by the research team goes to justify a saying in my native language ( EWE) which says " EVEN DIRTY WATER QUENCHES FIRE "Another provocative title from science: My wife once attended a seminar entitled "Whelping Management in Bitches".