by Sarah Ganly

Created on: November 16, 2009   Last Updated: November 18, 2009

Turkeys are a long held tradition and symbol for Thanksgiving, and as soon as anyone thinks of Thanksgiving the turkey is the usually the first thing that comes to mind., but many people don't know much about the turkey at all. The turkey is an interesting bird that has a long history; this article will discuss 16 fun and interesting facts about the turkey.

1. Turkeys have been alive for a very long time; in fact they have been alive in North America for almost ten million years (Pearson, 2003).

2. Turkeys have a wide range of vision; they can see up to 270 degrees (Gianetti, 2003). This is why turkeys are one of the hardest animals to hunt; it is extremely tricky to sneak up on a turkey.

3. Everyone knows owls perch in trees, and turkeys are birds. It seems funny to me to picture a turkey sleeping in a tree, but wild turkeys sleep in trees at night.

4. Have you ever noticed how someone's face will change color when they are upset? Well, turkeys are similar to humans in this way. When a turkey gets mad, excited, or defensive its head and neck changes color, and the more excited a turkey becomes the whiter the head and neck will also become.

5. Turkeys may have got their names in several ways, and historians are not exactly sure how the name turkey came about, but there are several interesting theories that hold weight. Christopher Columbus might have thought they were part of the peacock family, and he decided to call them "tuka" which is the word for peacock in the language of India (Pearson, 2003). The turkey also makes a turk, turk, turk sound when it is scared, and the American Indian name for the bird was firkee (Gianetta, 2003). Another possible way the turkey got its name is because the Turkish were great merchants of turkeys, and the bird was referred to as the turkey bird (Pearson, 2003).

6. In the early 1900s the wild turkey almost became extinct because of its value as a food source (Pearson, 2003). The growth of people and industry also caused the turkeys to lose much of its habitat, and farming caused many trees to be cut down during this time. The use of turkeys as food and the use of the turkeys land caused a huge decline in turkeys during this time.

7. Adult turkeys can have 3,500 feathers, and turkey feathers have been used in some interesting ways (Gianetta, 2003). Their feathers are a great addition to compost heaps, and the popular Sesame Street character Big Bird's entire costume was composed of turkey feathers.

8. Wild turkeys

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