These types of movements are normal display behavior for turkeys. This information was provided by Paul Brewer, Wild Turkey Project Manager for IL Dept. of Natural Resources. Pecking order or dominance begins to be established in wild turkey poults (young) when they are about 2 months old, while they are still closely accompanied by the hen that hatched them. There is also a “pecking order” or dominance hierarchy that is established in male turkeys as they begin to form fall/winter flocks. As sibling groups of males arrive on preferred wintering areas, they also display and fight, and it has been shown that these sibling groups tend to fight as units, with the larger sibling units often being more dominant. There is a “pecking order” within groups of siblings, and also a larger “pecking order” amongst the groups of siblings that occupy the same area.
If this behavior was observed at the end of the breeding season, wild turkeys also are well documented “team courters”. Males may be seen courting in groups, often with the dominant male(s) doing most of the gobbling and strutting. In a California study, the average dominant male that courted as part of a pair of males fathered six more eggs than males that courted alone. Genetic analysis of these pairs of males found courting together showed that they are close relatives, with half of their genetic material being identical. The “kin selection” theory behind the team-courtship is that the less dominant male would have a greater chance of passing along shared genetic material than if it were courting alone. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v434/n7029/full/nature03325.html
