{{Short description|Breed of turkey}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}} {{Use British English|date=January 2021}} {{redirect|Black Spanish|the grape|Black Spanish (grape)}} {{infobox poultry breed | name = Norfolk Black | image = Black Spanish Turkey Tom.jpg | image_size = | alt = | image_caption = Stag at the National Colonial Farm, Maryland | status = {{ubl|FAO (2007): endangered{{r|barb|page=124}}|DAD-IS (2021): unknown{{r|dad}}}} | altname = {{ubl|Black Spanish|Black Turkey|Black}} | country = Europe, the county of Norfolk | distribution = | standard = | use = | apa = yes{{r|apa|page=20}} | aba = | ee = yes{{r|ee}} | pcgb = light turkey{{r|pcgb}} | maleweight = 8.2–11.4 kg{{r|allonby|page=358}} | femaleweight = 5.0–6.8 kg{{r|allonby|page=358}} | skincolour = | eggcolour = | comb = | note = | type = turkey | latin = Meleagris gallopavo }}
The '''Norfolk Black''', also known as the '''Black Spanish''' or '''Black Turkey''', is a British breed of domestic turkey. It is thought to derive from birds taken to Britain from Spain, where they had arrived with Spanish explorers returning from the New World.{{r|allonby|page=358|roberts|page2=345|pcgb2|slow|disc}}
It is generally considered the oldest turkey breed in the UK.
== History ==
Turkeys were brought to Europe by early conquistadors returning from the New World, and were introduced to Britain – probably from Spain – in the early sixteenth century.{{r|rbst}} According to the ''Chronicle of the Kings of England'' of Richard Baker of 1643, this was in the fifteenth year of the reign of Henry VIII, or about 1524.{{r|jen|page=328|baker|page2=298}} William Strickland is often credited with bringing them.{{r|pcgb2}} Blackbirds had occasionally been seen among New World flocks of wild birds; European breeders selectively bred for this colour.{{r|ekarius|page=227}} In England, turkey farming was carried out mainly in East Anglia, particularly in Norfolk.{{r|allonby|page=358}}
In the seventeenth{{r|roberts|page=345}} or eighteenth century,{{r|slow}} early colonists travelling to the New World took black-coloured turkeys with them. Cross-breeding of some of these with ''Meleagris gallopavo silvestris'', the Eastern sub-species of the wild turkey, led to the later development of the Bronze, Narragansett and Slate breeds.{{r|roberts|page=345}}{{efn|name= a}} They remained a commercially farmed variety in the U.S. until the early 20th century, but fell out of favour after the development of the Broad Breasted Bronze and Broad Breasted White. Reasonably common in Europe, they are considered an endangered variety of heritage turkey today by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy,{{r|albc}} and are also included in Slow Food USA's Ark of Taste, a catalogue of heritage foods in danger of extinction.{{r|slow}}
In the UK, the breed was rescued from imminent disappearance on the 1930s.<ref>{{cite news |title=When turkeys were walked to London for Christmas |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clylpv4d767o |access-date=24 December 2025 |work=www.bbc.com |date=24 December 2025}}</ref>
A 1998 census conducted by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy found that only 200 Black Spanish turkeys remained in the United States, which just 15 different breeders were raising.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Burros|first=Marian|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/21/dining/the-hunt-for-a-truly-grand-turkey-one-that-nature-built.html|title=The Hunt for a Truly Grand Turkey, One That Nature Built|date=21 November 2001|work=The New York Times|access-date=9 April 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> To help with conservation efforts, the Accokeek Foundation helped reintroduce this bird to the Potomac River tidewater region by sharing breeding stock with other historical museums and local farmers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonparent.com/articles/0511/backyard.html|title=In Our Own Backyard: Talking Turkey|last=McKay|first=Kathryn|date=November 2005|website=Washington Parent|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=9 April 2020}}</ref> A rafter of Black Spanish turkeys is currently being preserved by the Heritage Breed Livestock Conservation Program within the National Colonial Farm at Piscataway Park to increase public awareness of this threatened breed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://accokeekfoundation.org/livestock-conservation/|title=National Colonial Farm: Heritage Breed Livestock Conservation|last=|first=|date=2016|website=Accokeek Foundation at Piscataway Park|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200511161807/https://accokeekfoundation.org/livestock-conservation/|archive-date=11 May 2020|access-date=9 April 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Notes == {{Notelist | refs=
{{efn|name = a |In the United States, the American Poultry Association regards these not as breeds but as colour variants of a single breed, the Turkey{{r|ekarius|page=222}}}}
}}
== References == {{Commons}} {{reflist|45em|refs=
<ref name=allonby>J. Ian H. Allonby, Philippe B. Wilson (editors) (2018). [https://books.google.com/books?id=A6BtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA489 ''British Poultry Standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain''], seventh edition. Chichester; Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley Blackwell. {{ISBN|9781119509141}}.</ref>
<ref name=apa>[https://web.archive.org/web/20171104135004/http://www.amerpoultryassn.com/PDF%20Forms/APA%20Recognized%20Breeds%20and%20Varieties%20Sept2012.pdf APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of January 1, 2012]. American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017.</ref>
<ref name=baker>Richard Baker (1670 [1643]). [https://archive.org/details/chronicleofkings00bake/page/298/ ''Chronicle of the Kings of England from the Time of the Romans Government unto the Death of King James'']. London: Printed for George Sawbridge... and Thomas Williams.{{quote|About his fifteenth year, it happened that divers things were newly brought into England, whereupon this Rhyme was made: Turkeys, Carps, Hoppes, Piccarel, and Beer, Came into ENGLAND all in one year.}}</ref>
<ref name=barb>Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20200623201209/http://www.fao.org/3/a1250e/annexes/List%20of%20breeds%20documented%20in%20the%20Global%20Databank%20for%20Animal%20Genetic%20Resources/List_breeds.pdf List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources], annex to [https://web.archive.org/web/20170110125634/http://www.fao.org/3/a-a1250e.pdf ''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture'']. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{ISBN|9789251057629}}. Archived 23 June 2020.</ref>
<ref name=dad>[https://fao-dadis-breed-detail.firebaseapp.com/?country=GBR&specie=Turkey&breed=Norfolk%20Black Breed data sheet: Norfolk Black / United Kingdom (Turkey)]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed January 2021.</ref>
<ref name=ee>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130616062803/http://www.entente-ee.com/deutsch/sparten/gefluegel/dateien/2013/Verzeichnis%20R%20F%2028042013.xls Liste des races et variétés homologuée dans les pays EE (28.04.2013)]. Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture. Archived 16 June 2013.</ref>
<ref name=ekarius>Carol Ekarius (2007). [https://archive.org/details/Storeys_Illustrated_Guide_to_Poultry_Breeds_Complete/mode/1up ''Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds'']. North Adams, Massachusetts: Storey Publishing. {{isbn|9781580176675}}.</ref>
<ref name=jen>Jennifer Speake, John Simpson (editors) (2015). [https://books.google.com/books?id=GtBxCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA328 ''The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs''], sixth edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|9780198734901}}.</ref>
<ref name=pcgb>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143235/http://www.poultryclub.org/img/Breed%20Classification.pdf Breed Classification]. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 12 June 2018.</ref>
<ref name=pcgb2>[https://web.archive.org/web/20181109070352/http://www.poultryclub.org/breed-gallery/turkeys/ Turkeys]. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 9 November 2018.</ref>
<ref name=rbst>[https://www.rbst.org.uk/norfolk-black Norfolk Black]. Kenilworth, Warwickshire: Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Accessed January 2021.</ref>
<ref name=roberts>Victoria Roberts (2008). [https://books.google.com/books?id=nAfyUHY42u0C ''British Poultry Standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain''], sixth edition. Oxford: Blackwell. {{ISBN|9781405156424}}.</ref>
<ref name=albc>{{cite web|url=http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/black.html|title=Black Turkey|work=albc-usa.org|publisher=American Livestock Breeds Conservancy|accessdate=23 November 2011|archive-date=28 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328165456/http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/black.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref name=slow>[https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/ark-of-taste-slow-food/black-turkey/ Black Turkey: Ark of taste]. Bra, Cuneo: Fondazione Slow Food per la Biodiversità Onlus/Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. Accessed January 2021.</ref>
<ref name=disc>{{cite web|url=http://news.discovery.com/history/native-americans-turkeys-domestication.html|title=Native Americans First Tamed Turkeys 2,000 Years Ago|work=news.discovery.com|publisher=The Discovery Channel|accessdate=7 July 2012|archive-date=27 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027165349/http://news.discovery.com/history/native-americans-turkeys-domestication.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
}}
Category:Turkey breeds Category:Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy