the snood reveals the mood.

In anatomical terms, the Snood is an erectile, fleshy protuberance on the forehead of turkeys. Most of the time when the turkey is in a relaxed state, the Snood is pale and a half inch to one inch long. However, when the male begins strutting (the courtship display), the Snood engorges with blood, becomes redder and elongates several inches, hanging well below the beak.

Snoods are just one of the caruncles (small, fleshy excrescences) that can be found on turkeys.

The Snood can be between one and six inches in length depending on the turkey's sex, health, and mood.

The Snood functions in both inter-sexual and intrasexual selection. Female wild turkeys prefer to mate with long-snooded males, and during dyadic interactions, male turkeys defer to males with relatively longer Snoods.