*

This story is so kooky that I must lead with the video:

This slow-motion film stars turkeys of different ages, from hatchlings to adults, and yes, they’re furiously climbing a steep wooden ramp. The video comes from a study published earlier this month. But let me start at the beginning.

In January 2004, nine Australian brush turkeys were minding their own business in the Barossa Valley when a couple of researchers scooped them up in great big nets.

The scientists, visiting from the Flight Laboratory of the University of Montana-Missoula, wanted to find out how the birds’ locomotor performance changes as they grow up.

So every three days for the next two weeks, they weighed the birds, measured their wingspan,