Fun Facts About Turkeys

This is the week we make turkey-inspired crafts, contemplate whether or not to brine, and look forward to turkey leftovers. But, there's more to the turkey than just serving as the Thanksgiving centerpiece. Dazzle your Thanksgiving guests with these fun facts about turkeys (leveling up your turkey trivia will help pass the time during holiday car rides)!

1. Turkeys nearly vanished from our borders

Anyone who has had a run-in with a wild turkey may find it hard to believe that this now common-place bird almost vanished from our borders. From the early 1900s to the early 1970s, you'd be hard-pressed to hear that familiar gobble-gobble in Massachusetts. This was too much for some people to bear, and in 1972, the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (now known as Mass Wildlife) released 37 wild turkeys from New York to Berkshire County with the hope that they would stick around and multiply. It worked! In less than 50 years, this bird has gone from being locally extinct to living statewide in Massachusetts.

2. At least one (really famous) person considered the turkey a national treasure

Benjamin Franklin was so enamored with the wild turkey that he thought it would be a far better choice as America's national bird rather than the bald eagle.

3. Different turkeys have different names

Toms are males, hens are females, babies are poults, and young turkeys are jakes.

4. Male turkeys want to feel the love

When a tom wants to attract a hen, they literally strut their stuff by displaying their back feathers, puffing out their chests, and letting out a gobble-gobble. But before you think, "how romantic," know that a tom will court many hens each season.

5. Turkeys feel the need for speed

Turkeys are surprisingly fast. They can run up to 25 mph and fly up to 55 mph (though only for short distances). In fact, these large birds spend their nights (i.e., roost) high up in the treetops.

6. A very famous bird wears turkey feathers

Chances are the turkey you eat had white feathers as opposed to the brown ones seen on the wild turkeys roaming around. And about those feathers...Big Bird, while not a turkey, is covered with white turkey feathers dyed yellow.

Want to learn more about turkeys and other animals? Visit Mass Audubon online or pop into one of their nature programs!

Fun facts about turkeys