Special Bird

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Special Bird

Today's special animal friend is the domestic turkey, Meleagris gallopavo domesticus.  It is the same species as the wild turkey.  The other member of the Meleagris genus of New World turkeys is the ocellated turkey, which is native to Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and is quite attractive:

The turkey was domesticated in Mesoamerica at least 2,000 years ago.  Aztecs and earlier indigenous peoples farmed turkeys for egg and meat and used their feathers for decoration.  Domestic turkeys were introduced to the United States by the Spanish in the 16^th century.  The Spanish also introduced the turkey to Europe.  Domestic turkeys arrived in Virginia from England in 1608.  Turkeys are a popular type of poultry throughout the temperate parts of the world.  Females are called “hens,” and males are called “toms” in North America and “stags” in Britain and Ireland.  Chicks are “poults” or “turkeylings.”

Commercial production of turkeys in England took off in the 1940s with advances in intensive farming, disease control, and refrigeration.  Turkey became very affordable for the working classes in both Britain and the U.S. in the post-World War II years.

Domestic turkeys are highly social and use many vocalizations and physical interactions to maintain group solidarity.  A strange turkey introduced to a flock will be driven away or pecked, possibly to death.  Commercial flocks are usually single-sex, and a male who ends up in a female flock will also be pecked, while a female in a male flock is likely to be crushed by males attempting to mate with her.

The most common breed of turkey for commercial food production is the Broad-Breasted White, which produces large amounts of meat.  This breed cannot mate on its own: females are artificially inseminated.  About 620 million turkeys are turned into food worldwide each year.  Turkeys produce fewer eggs than other domestic fowl, and they are so valuable as a meat product that the sale of their eggs for food is very limited.  One website was charging nearly $20 for a dozen. 

There are many animal-welfare concerns regarding the industrial farming of turkeys, including overcrowding. Here are some free-range, heritage-breed turkeys:

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!