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Toms, gobbler turkeys, are interesting to watch during their spring rituals. It's this time of the year when it is easiest to separate male turkeys from hens.

Generally, gobblers have beards and hens do not. Even though beards are modified feathers, they do not molt as other feathers do. Each leg on a gobbler has one spur, a bony core covered with keratin. The longest spurs recorded were about two inches long. Various caruncles adorn a gobbler's head and are most prominent in spring, when the bird is excited.

Gobblers are larger and blacker than hens. They also display during mating season by fanning their tails, dropping their wings and making several sounds that hens are not able to imitate, including gobbles and a drumming sound.

A tom's beard is visible at most times, even when the bird is flying. It is least visible when the bird is strutting.

Older gobblers have longer beards, but the strands of a beard wear away particularly during winter when the birds walk through deep snow.