At the heart of the celebration of Thanksgiving is the idea of 'giving thanks' but the main attraction of this festival is the tradition of family gathering for sharing the Thanksgiving dinner and eating turkey on this holiday. It is well known that the turkey has a delicious history and it is considered as the favorite bird of the Americans. But there are even more interesting and fun facts about this bird, which can surprise you. Here we are with our collection of various facts about turkey as Turkey Trivia.
Turkeys originated in North and Central America.
Usually the turkeys are found in hardwood forests with grassy areas but
they are capable of adapting themselves to different habitats.
Turkeys spend the night in trees.
You can easily see a turkey on a warm clear day or during light rain.
Turkeys fly to the ground at first light and feed until mid-morning.
Feeding resumes in mid-afternoon.
Turkeys start gobbling before sunrise and generally continue through
most of the morning.
The field of vision of wild turkey is so good that it is about 270
The wild turkey has excellent hearing.
A spooked turkey can run at speed up to 20 miles per hour.
A wild turkey can run at speed of up to 25 miles per hour.
A wild turkey can fly for short distances at up to 55 miles per hour.
Domesticated turkeys or the farm-raised turkeys cannot fly.
Turkeys were one of the first birds to be domesticated in the America.
The male turkeys are called 'tom', the female turkeys are called 'hen'
and the baby turkeys are called 'poult'.
The male turkeys gobble whereas female turkeys make a clicking noise.
The male turkeys gobble to attract the female turkeys for mating. The
gobble is a seasonal call made during the spring and fall.
A mature turkey generally has around 3,500 feathers. The Apache Indians
considered the turkey timid and wouldn't eat it or use its feathers on
According to an estimate, during the Thanksgiving holiday more than 45
million turkeys are cooked and around 525 million pounds of turkey is
About ninety-five percent of American families eat turkey on the
Thanksgiving Day whereas fifty percent eat turkey on Christmas holiday.
Almost fifty percent of Americans eat turkey at least once every 2
According to the National Turkey Federation about twenty-four percent
of Americans purchase fresh turkeys for Thanksgiving and seventy percent
purchase frozen turkeys.
North Carolina is the number one producer of turkeys. It produces
around 61 million turkeys per year. Minnesota and Arkansas are second
and third number producers of turkey.
The part of the turkey that is used in a good luck ritual is known as
The red fleshy growth from the base of the beak that hangs down over
the beak is called 'snood'. It is very long on male turkeys.