Another Maine winter has settled in like the first spring snowbirds that arrive in May and stay until August. Hunters have long since put away their rifles and shotguns, except for the bold few who pursue predators or don appropriate footwear to seek the namesake snowshoe hares. While we while away the hours by the warmth of the woodstove, wild turkeys are withstanding the cold and patiently waiting for the change of seasons.

Days are spent foraging for enough food to fight off winter’s cold, and conditions dictate difficulty. Deep powder represents more of a challenge to mobility because the birds must plow through it. A hard crust makes for easy going, but limits access to food on the forest floor. Fortunately, strong winter winds blow down enough seeds and catkins to keep birds fed until they can again reach the remnant acorns that haven’t already been pawed up by deer. Meanwhile, these highly adaptable birds have learned how to take advantage of the trappings of man, flocking to backyard bird feeders and silage piles at the local dairy farm.

When they come, they come en masse because birds congregate in large winter flocks. They’re mostly segregated by sex, the larger flocks consisting of hens and their young, and the smaller ones, loose assemblages of jakes and toms. All are more tolerant of one another, for now, but a change is not far off.

The days are getting longer. It still feels very much like winter with the ground blanketed in snow and daybreak temperatures well below freezing, but increasing daylight will trigger physiological changes in wild turkeys.

The females will stick together but the males become increasingly intolerant of the friends they foraged with through the fall and winter. Spats break out to sort out the pecking order; the dominant hierarchy will determine who’s boss.

There will come a day, perhaps as soon as late February, when you step outside to bring in firewood or fetch the morning paper. and you hear a strange sound. It takes a moment to register because it seems so out of place. Was that a gobble? Later, as you drive to work, you’ll spot the same winter flock but this day will be different because the toms are puffed up and strutting. Spring’s mating ritual has already begun and another turkey season won’t be far behind.

Bob Humphrey is a freelance writer and Registered Maine Guide who lives in Pownal. He can be reached at: bob@bobhumphrey.com