The spots on the ocellated turkey’s tail helped give it its name, as the Latin word for “eye” is “oculus”.
The tail feathers in both sexes of the ocellated turkey are bluish-gray in color with a well defined, eye-shaped, blue-bronze colored spot near the end followed by a bright gold tip.
The name of the turkey refers to the blue and bronze ocelli on its tail, the eye-shaped markings that are similar to the ones peacocks display.
• Image | © Aaron Fellmeth Photography, Some Rights Reserved (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
• Sources | (Heinrichs, 2010; Taylor, Quigley, & Gonzalez, 2002; Weyer, 1983)
