• 16 parts
  • Checked September 2026

Parts of a Turkey Body and Head

A male turkey with his tail fanned, then his head up close.

Parts of a Turkey Body and Head

Name Date

Tap any part to read, rename or leave it out

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Tail fan
  2. Wing
  3. Breast
  4. Beard
  5. Head
  6. Leg
  7. Toes
  8. Spur
  9. Tail coverts
  10. Beak
  11. Eye
  12. Snood
  13. Wattle
  14. Caruncles
  15. Major caruncles
  16. Ear

Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Next: the parts of a chicken

All 16 parts on the diagram

Show the list

The whole bird 9

  1. Tail fan A male fans his tail to look larger when he displays. In flight the tail steers and brakes.
  2. Wing The wings are small for so big a bird. Turkeys also slap with them when they fight.
  3. Breast The front of the body. The beard grows from the middle of it.
  4. Beard A tuft of coarse feathers like hair. Most males have one, and so do some females.
  5. Head An adult male's head is bare skin, red and blue. It turns redder when he is excited.
  6. Leg Turkeys have long, sturdy legs and walk on their toes.
  7. Toes A foot has three front toes and a shorter back toe.
  8. Spur Males have a spur on the back of each leg. They use it when they fight other males.
  9. Tail coverts Shorter feathers covering the base of the long tail feathers.

The head up close 7

  1. Beak A turkey's beak is small for its size. The snood hangs down over it.
  2. Eye The eyes sit on the sides of the head. A turkey sees almost all the way around.
  3. Snood It grows from the forehead at the base of the beak. It is longer in males and swells when a tom is excited.
  4. Wattle A flap of skin that hangs under the chin. It is also called a dewlap.
  5. Caruncles Fleshy growths on head and neck. Both sexes have them; a male's are larger.
  6. Major caruncles The largest growths, low on the throat. They fill with blood and redden when a male displays.
  7. Ear A turkey has no outer ear. The opening is behind and slightly below the eye.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30 against (1) Dr. Jacquie Jacob, University of Kentucky, External Anatomy of Turkeys, on the national Cooperative Extension poultry site, https://poultry.extension.org/articles/poultry-anatomy/external-anatomy-of-turkeys/ (ears, eyes, beak, wings, tail, shanks, spurs, toes; the snood growing from the base of the beak, longer in males; the wattle under the beak; caruncles on the head and neck; the beard on the breast; turkeys walk on their toes); (2) Wikipedia, text only: Wild turkey, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_turkey, and Caruncle (bird anatomy), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caruncle_(bird_anatomy) (featherless head, snood, wattles, caruncles with larger ones at the bottom of the throat, the major caruncle, beard, fan-shaped tail, long legs, three front toes and a shorter rear toe, spurs); (3) National Wild Turkey Federation, Wild Turkey Anatomy, https://www.nwtf.org/content-hub/wild-turkey-anatomy (snood, eyes, ears behind and slightly below the eyes with no outer ear, beard, wings, tail fan, tail coverts, spurs); (4) Pennsylvania Game Commission, Wild Turkey wildlife note, https://www.pgc.pa.gov/Education/WildlifeNotesIndex/Pages/WildTurkey.aspx (bare head, snood, spurs, beard, major caruncles, dewlaps, tail coverts); (5) Missouri Department of Conservation field guide, Wild Turkey, https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/wild-turkey (bare red and blue head, wattles, the beard in the middle of the breast, long legs). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

The top drawing is a male turkey, a tom, strutting with his tail spread. The bottom drawing is his head and neck up close, where most of the unusual names are.

Read the full guide

The body first, then the head

Numbers 1 to 9 are on the whole bird: the tail fan and the shorter tail coverts over its base, the wing, the breast and the beard hanging from it, the bare head, and the leg with its spur and toes. Numbers 10 to 16 are the parts of a turkey head: beak, eye, snood, wattle, caruncles and ear.

Parts of a turkey neck

The skin of the neck is bare like the head. Small caruncles run down it, the wattle hangs along the throat, and the major caruncles sit at the bottom.

  • Snood or wattle? The snood hangs over the beak from the forehead. The wattle hangs under the chin.
  • To label parts of a turkey from memory, start with the big five: fan, wing, breast, beard and head.

Questions and answers

What is the red thing on a turkey's beak called?

The snood. It is a fleshy flap that grows from the forehead at the base of the beak and hangs down over it. It is longer in males and swells and reddens when a tom is excited.

What is the thing hanging from a turkey's neck?

The wattle, a flap of skin under the chin. The bumps on the head and neck are caruncles, and the largest ones at the bottom of the throat are the major caruncles.

What is a turkey's beard?

A tuft of coarse, hair-like feathers that hangs from the middle of the breast. Most males have one and so do some females.

Do female turkeys have a snood and spurs?

Hens have a snood, but it is shorter than a male's. They usually have no spurs and no beard.

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