November 24, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!


Wild Turkey
Meleagris gallapavo

Did you know?

Wild turkeys are one of only two domesticated species originating in the New World. The Muscovy Duck is the other.

Also, European explorers took Wild Turkeys to Europe from Mexico in the early 1500s. They were successfully domesticated in Europe and English colonists brought them back when they settled on the Atlantic Coast. Domestic birds retain the white tail tip of the original Mexican subspecies, and that character can be used to distinguish wandering barnyard birds from wild turkeys which have chestnut-brown tail tips.


This information comes from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.