Thanksgiving Primer: Turkeys

It's time to talk Turkey!

Turkeys are native to the Americas. No less an authority than Benjamin Franklin advocated for the turkey to be our national symbol, a role filled instead by the eagle.

Turkeys were used by Native Americans for food. Spanish explorers noted that the Aztecs made tamales with turkey, which means that the Aztecs invented the Turkey Sandwich.

Threatening a turkey was invented in 2018, by the staff of Cranberry County Magazine (see below)...

Turkeys are named after the nation of Turkey, just in case you thought it was the other way around. They were brought to Europe by Spanish, English and French explorers, and became popular there. One breed of turkeys in England can trace their stock back to the first Earl of Orford, who brought back a quantity from the colonies.

The nation-of-Turkey part relates to the commercial trade in the birds. Spain would sell turkeys into Mediterranean markets, with many of them being sold to European traders afterwards by Ottoman merchants. People began to call them Turkish fowl and so forth, and then just Turkeys.

Shakespeare used the term in 1601, and the casual use of it by Billy Shakes implies that the term was in common use.

Turkeys are both wild and domestic in the Americas. Adult males are called Toms or Gobblers, adult females are called Hens, and juvenile turkeys are called Jakes. Males are larger and more colorful than females. Turkeys have over 5000 feathers.

Turkeys weigh 11-24 pounds generally, with 17 pounds as the average weight. The record weight is 37 pounds. They are among the largest native birds in North America, surpassed only by Condors, Cranes, Pelicans and Swans.

Turkeys prefer forests, as they roost in trees to avoid predators. They are active in daylight, as they have horrible night vision.

They are excellent and agile flyers, contrary to what you may have seen on WKRP in Cincinnati.

 Much like the Wright Brothers, they tend to fly low and rarely fly more than a quarter mile. Wild turkeys do not migrate.

They are very tasty birds. This hurt them during colonial times, with the species being eradicated in some areas. They went from tens of millions to 1.3 million in the 1980s. Restoration efforts have the number up to 7 million now, and they are a common sight in Massachusetts.

They were rare enough to be a luxury meal by the 1800s. The Cratchit family was going to eat a goose for Christmas before Scrooge sprang for the turkey.

Turkeys have a strict social code which they sometimes work humans into. A submissive Turkey may follow a human, while a flock leader may attack humans. It is advised by some to scare turkeys if they start acting aggressive, and even tree huggers advance the concept of beating one down if you absolutely have to.

Turkeys on the Thanksgiving table are domestic, and not wild turkeys. There is often Wild Turkey on my family's dinner table... but we are of Irish descent, and things just sort of work out that way at times.

Our models today are from Plymouth, Onset and Cape Cod Community College in Hyannis.