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Turkey Trivia –
Did You Know…
Only male turkeys (toms) gobble. Females (hens) make a clicking noise.
The heaviest turkey ever raised weighed in at 86 pounds – about the size of a large German Shepherd – and was grown in England, according to Dr. Sarah Birkhold, poultry specialist with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service.
Mature turkeys have 3,500 or so feathers. The Apache Indians considered the turkey timid and wouldn´t eat it or use its feathers on their arrows.
The fleshy growth from the base of the beak, which is very long on male turkeys and hangs down over the beak, is called the snood.
Turkeys are the only breed of poultry native to the Western Hemisphere.
Turkeys have great hearing, but no external ears. They can also see in color, and have excellent visual acuity and a wide field of vision (about 270 degrees), which makes sneaking up on them difficult. However, turkeys have a poor sense of smell but an excellent sense of taste.
Domesticated turkeys cannot fly. Wild turkeys, however, can fly for short distances at speeds up to 55 miles per hour. They can also reach speeds of 25 miles per hour on the ground.
How the Turkey Got Its Name
There are a number of explanations for the origin of the name of Thanksgiving’s favorite dinner guest. Some believe Christopher Columbus thought that the land he discovered was connected to India, and believed the bird he discovered (the turkey) was a type of peacock. He therefore called it ‘tuka’, which is ‘peacock’ in Tamil, an Indian language.
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/columbus1.html
The Native American name for turkey is ´firkee´; some say this is how turkeys got their name. Simple facts, however, sometimes produce the best answers—when a turkey is scared, it makes a "turk, turk, turk" noise.