Have you ever wondered what happens to those large, same-sex groups of turkeys that you see during the winter? During early spring, larger all-male flocks break up. Some of these gobblers go it alone, but most spend the spring mating season in small bachelor groups, where a strict pecking order is established, and only the dominant gobbler is allowed to breed.
Some biologists have speculated that these bachelor groups are composed of closely related male turkeys — most often from the same brood. Because these birds carry many of the same genes, any male in such an alliance that mated and fathered poults would be passing on many of the genes of his brothers. So by cooperating with their close kin, the allies would be helping to pass on the family genes, so to speak, even if they didn’t mate. Although that seems plausible, the kinship hypothesis of gobbler flocking behavior is unproven.
Jakes usually attempt to associate with older gobblers during spring. Adult gobblers typically reject these interlopers at first, but finally become so preoccupied with courtship that jakes are able to hang around the fringes of the mating aggregations without actually joining the party.