Let's Talk Turkey: Turkey Facts and Trivia

Male turkeys are called "toms" or "gobblers". Female turkeys are called "hens", and babies are called "poults".

Domestic turkey

Tom turkeys spread their tails to attract the attention of the hens, just like a peacock.

Wild mother turkeys make their nests under a bush in the woods. She will lay up to 18 eggs at one time, and they incubate for about 28 days.

Turkey eggs are a light tan color with brown speckles. They weigh 3 - 4 ounces each.

After the poults are born, they are unable to fly for two weeks. The mother roosts on the ground with them during this time instead of roosting in the trees as she normally would.

Yes, turkeys can fly — the wild ones, that is. At night, they fly up to trees to roost. When spooked, a turkey can run at speeds of about 20 miles per hour. When a turkey launches into the air, it can reach flying speeds of 50-55 miles per hour very quickly.

A turkey can glide for about one mile without having to flap its wings.

Wild turkey

Wild turkeys and domestic turkeys are very different. The turkeys that we associate with Thanksgiving are wild turkeys. The turkeys that we actually eat, however, are big, white birds. The white turkeys are raised for food because they have fewer pin feathers, which makes them easier to process, and the lack of color makes for less "gamey" meat.

Domestic turkeys are about twice the size of wild turkeys. This makes them so large that they are unable to fly like wild ones. It's rumored that some farm turkeys have been bred to such a size that their large breast actually makes them tip over!

A turkey has 157 bones.

Adult turkeys have about 3,500 feathers.

Sesame Street's Big Bird uses a costume made from turkey feathers — some 4 to 6 thousand of them!

Most turkey feathers are actually composted into farm soil to fertilize it. They are simply spread out over the field and turned into the dirt.

Turkeys are native to Northern Mexico and the Eastern United States.

Turkeys eat berries, small insects, seeds and acorns.

Turkeys have excellent vision, and they see in color. Their visual range is about 270 degrees. This is one of the reasons that hunting turkey is so hard.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the largest turkey recorded was 86 pounds

The flap of red skin that is over the turkey's beak is called the "snood". The flap under the chin is called the "wattle".

Turkey meat is higher in protein and lower in fat than chicken, beef or pork; plus, it is naturally low in cholesterol and sodium.

--M. Ellis