Back during deer season my Dad shot a brown bearded turkey. I dont just mean like a light shade of black or gray, I mean rust brown. It was a good size bird too. The beard was about 9 1/2 inches long and it was a mature tom. I have never heard of a brown bearded turkey and cannot really find much information about them. Anyone know anything about Brown Bearded Turkey?

www.nwtf.com Go here. They have a section on beards.

I must be looking in the wrong place, I cant find a section on beards.

Buddy of mine in Jones county has one that hangs around that has a Red Beard. Kinda weird but he says if he ever shoots it he's going to have it full body mounted just cause it's so odd

Wild Turkey Oddities- Weird Beards

By: Bob Eriksen

NWTF Regional Biologist



Talk among wild turkey hunters often centers on two attributes of the mature gobbler-the beard and spurs. Wherever they gather, you will hear turkey hunters mention the “rope” on the gobbler that so-and-so got last spring or the thick paintbrush beard on the big tom using the corner field at Jones’ farm. Of course, talk centers on these characteristics of gobblers because beards and spurs carry intrinsic trophy value to the turkey hunter. Most of us don’t hunt specific gobblers and it is often impossible to judge the quality of a gobbler’s beard and spurs when you are concentrating on waiting for the perfect shot! Therefore, record book gobblers are more often taken by chance rather than design. Once the bird is in hand, though, an outstanding beard may make the rounds of the local sporting goods stores and game checking stations.



The beard of a wild turkey gobbler is a secondary sexual characteristic that is used by other turkeys to determine the sex, age and condition of an individual turkey. Spurs, snoods, head color and plumage color are also used by wild turkeys to distinguish sex, condition and age and to evaluate competitors. Biologists and hunters use the same characteristics to judge wild turkeys. Though beards and spurs are generally male characteristics, about ten percent of adult hens have beards and a few even have spurs. Hen beards are usually thinner and shorter than gobbler beards. Hen beards can be up to eight inches or so in length and consist of fewer strands or bristles than beards on gobblers. Spurs on hens are usually no longer than a half inch and often occur only on one leg. Bearded hens and those with spurs generally produce normal broods.



There are a number of good references on beards that will be listed at the end of this article. Turkey beards have little wild turkey population management implication for biologists so few extensive studies of beards have been completed. Dr. James Earl Kennamer of NWTF wrote on the anatomy of turkey beards in a 1989 issue of “Turkey Call” magazine. Dr. Kennamer mentioned that A.W. Schorger, an early wild turkey researcher and author, called the beard a mesofiloplume feather. That is a mouthful, but it means that the bristles of the gobbler’s beard have the characteristics of two types of feathers.



The beard of a mature gobbler can range from a few inches to more than twelve inches in length. A small number of gobblers never develop a beard and some gobblers develop multiple beards. The beard is comprised of bristle-like feathers that emerge from one follicle (sheath) on the upper portion of the breast and grow throughout the life of the bird. Multiple beards emerge from separate sheaths. The number of bristles in a beard is variable but can range from over one hundred to more than six hundred. The end of the beard is worn off as the gobbler bends over to feed causing the beard to touch the ground. Ice and snow can accumulate on the tip of the beard causing it to become brittle and break in the winter months. Beard length is limited by these factors to about twelve inches. Occasional beards in excess of sixteen inches in length have been reported, but these are rare indeed.



Wild turkey beards are usually dark gray to black in color. An oily cement-like substance coats the bristles when they emerge from the sheath, giving the beard a waxy texture and gray color. As the beard grows, retained pieces of the sheath and the oily surface coating wear off so most of the beard is dull black while the portion closest to the breast may be gray in color.



According to some authors, the tip of the beard on juvenile gobblers (jakes) may be amber (reddish orange) in color but this color disappears as the beard grows and the tip is worn off. The normal dark color of a gobbler’s beard is caused by a dark pigment called melanin. The beard grows at the rate of four to five inches a year. I have had the opportunity to handle more than a thousand eastern gobblers, forty Rio Grande gobblers, thirty Merriams gobblers and a few Osceola gobblers in my career and can honestly say that most had normal dark gray to black beards. I recall a small number of jakes displaying the amber or reddish color on the tip of the beard, but they were the exception rather than the rule. However, I have seen a handful of adult gobblers (less than three dozen in more than twenty-five years) with beards or portions of beards that ranged from amber to blond in color. Usually the odd-colored beards are in poor condition and often they are broken off a few inches from the breast. This makes the beard appear to be that of a jake, even on an adult gobbler.



Two theories exist about the reason for the color variation and poor quality of the bristles exhibited on some gobbler beards. Both make some sense, but no one knows the reasons for sure. Neither theory is heavily researched and neither has been proven, though recent work casts some doubt on the second theory. The first theory holds that a lack of “melanin”, the dark pigment accounts for the change in color in some beards. If the lack of melanin is genetic in origin, the beard may be light in color for the entire life of the bird. If the lack of melanin is temporary (perhaps as the result of a dietary deficiency) there will be a line or band of color from ¼ to an inch or more in length across all the bristles of the beard. The beard may break at this weak point, leaving the remaining portion of the beard blond or amber in color. Depending on the length of time the condition exists, the color might be seen on several inches of the beard. Often when the beard breaks, the edge is clean giving the appearance of having been cut with scissors or singed in a fire.



The second theory holds that a fungal infection affects the beard causing color changes and weakening the bristles. This, too, makes some sense. Many of the blond or amber beards reported occur after a damp, wet winter (not necessarily a snowy one). A number of odd colored and broken or singed beards have been examined by researchers at the Southeastern Wildlife Disease Center in Athens, Georgia. Close examination with electron microscopes failed to reveal any bacterial or fungal infections on the beards.



Whichever theory is correct, such blond or reddish beards are not very common. Multiple beards are much more common than light colored beards. Take a good look at the beard from your next gobbler. In bright sunlight, you may be able to see some amber color at the tip or in a band across the beard, even if the beard appears to be all black at first glance. Jack Colgan of Transfer harvested one such bird last spring in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. His gobbler was a beauty with 1 ½ inch spurs that weighed in at 23 pounds. The thing that really stood out on this gobbler was his full length blond beard. The beard was 9 inches long. You can see by the accompanying photo (courtesy of Mr. Colgan) that there are some dark bands across the beard. Jack’s gobbler was quite a trophy, even if it had a normal dark beard. With the blond beard, this bird was even more remarkable.



Mary Jo Casalena, the Pennsylvania Game Commission wild turkey biologist received three reports of light colored beards in the spring of 2002. The birds were taken in different parts of the commonwealth. Wild turkeys are fascinating and amazing birds. Turkey hunters probably appreciate wild turkeys more than anyone. I have worked with wild turkeys as a biologist and hunted them for more than a quarter century. After all that time I continue to learn new things about them on a regular basis. If you have any turkey oddities to report, please contact the Pennsylvania Chapter website. For additional reading on wild turkey beards, check the following sources:

Thanks for the info, that really hepled. He got a fan mount with the beard in the middle surrounded by breast feathers. It turned out awesome. It's a trophy!