Here is some fun ‘turkey trivia’ that you can share with your friend and family as you sit down to partake of your Thanksgiving dinner this year.
1. Turkeys are in fact named for the country ‘Turkey’. These birds made their way to western Europe by way of the Mediterranean Sea through Turkey. People in England bought turkeys from Turkish merchants and assumed that the birds originated from the country of Turkey, hence the name.
2. Not all turkeys ‘gobble’. Female turkeys do not goggle – they cluck and chirp. Any gobbling is done by male turkeys, often to attract a mate.
3. Benjamin Franklin told his daughter in a letter, that in his opinion the turkey would be a better representative of our national bird then the bald eagle. His reasoning included the following statement, “…the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America.”
4. Wild turkeys can fly short distances, up to 55 miles per hour and will run up to 20 miles an hour. Domestic turkeys cannot fly because they have been bred for their meat, which makes them too heavy to fly.
5. Turkeys prefer sleeping up on an tree branch then on the ground, which keeps them safe from predators.
6. Wild turkeys are native to Northern Mexico and the Eastern United States and lived almost 50 million years ago. Europeans came into contact with turkeys in the 1500′s once the New World was discovered.
7. Turkeys are able to turn their heads so that they have a 360-degree field of view.
8. The red, fleshy flap of skin under the turkey’s skin is referred to as a ‘wattle’ or ‘gobbler’. It turns a dark red color during mating season when male turkeys are trying to attract a mate. The long flap of skin the hangs over their beak is called a ‘snood’.
9. Wild turkeys have dark feathers while domesticated turkeys usually have white feathers.
10. Populations of wild turkeys can be found living in all the states except for Alaska.
So, as you sit down this Thanksgiving to eat your turkey dinner, perhaps you will have a newfound respect for this delicious bird.