Turkey (bird)

{{Short description|North American genus of large birds}} {{About|all species of turkey|its meat|Turkey as food|other uses|Turkey (disambiguation)}} {{pp|small=yes}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}

{{Automatic taxobox | name = Turkey | fossil_range = {{Fossil range|23|0}}<small>Early Miocene – Recent</small> | image = Male wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) strutting.jpg | image_caption = A male Eastern wild turkey strutting | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Meleagris | authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | type_species = ''Meleagris gallopavo'' (wild turkey) | type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = * ''M. gallopavo'' * ''M. ocellata'' * †''M. californica'' * †''M. crassipes'' }}

'''Turkeys''' are large, heavyset galliforms in the genus '''''Meleagris''''', indigenous to the Americas. They are among the largest birds in their native ranges, as well as being one of the heaviest birds in the order Galliformes. There are two extant turkey species: the wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') of Southern, Central and Eastern North America, and the ocellated turkey (''Meleagris ocellata'') of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Males of both species have a distinctive singular fleshy wattle, called a snood, that hangs from the base of the culmen. Like with other phasianines, the male is bigger and sports fancier plumage than the female.

The earliest turkeys evolved in North America over 20 million years ago. They share a recent common ancestor with grouse, pheasants, and other fowl. The North American wild turkey is the ancestor of the domestic turkey, which was domesticated approximately 2,000 years ago by indigenous peoples. It was this domestic descendant that was later transported by humans to Eurasia, during the Columbian exchange.

==Name== [[File:1 Wild Turkey.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Plate 1 of ''The Birds of America'' by John James Audubon, depicting a wild turkey]] The name ''turkey'' originated as a shortening of ''turkey cock'' and ''turkey hen'' and initially denoted the guineafowl, an African bird to which the turkeys of North America are only distantly related. Guineafowl were first imported to Europe via Turkey, hence the name. Following the establishment of English colonies in the New World, the name was transferred to the superficially similar North American bird.<ref>{{cite OED|turkey|3192514606}}</ref>

In 1550, the English navigator William Strickland, who had introduced the turkey into England, was granted a coat of arms including a "turkey-cock in his pride proper".<ref>Boehrer, Bruce Thomas (2011). [https://books.google.com/books?id=V40s-gATtqIC&pg=PA141 Animal characters: nonhuman beings in early modern literature] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815150930/https://books.google.com/books?id=V40s-gATtqIC&pg=PA141 |date=15 August 2021 }}. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 141. {{ISBN|0812201361}}.</ref> William Shakespeare used the term in ''Twelfth Night'',<ref>[https://www.sparknotes.com/nofear/shakespeare/twelfthnight/page_100/ Twelfth Night: Act 2, Scene 5] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426220844/https://www.sparknotes.com/nofear/shakespeare/twelfthnight/page_100/ |date=26 April 2021 }} No Fear Shakespeare</ref> believed to be written in 1601 or 1602. The lack of context around his usage suggests that the term was already widespread.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

An infant turkey is called a ''chick'' or ''poult''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dickson |first=James G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oVICEKm1U04C&pg=PA39 |title=The Wild Turkey: Biology and Management |date=1992 |publisher=Stackpole Books |isbn=978-0-8117-1859-2 |page=39 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Damerow |first=Gail |author-link=Gail Damerow |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AZQ00FD-jb4C&pg=PA20 |title=Hatching & Brooding Your Own Chicks: Chickens, Turkeys, Ducks, Geese, Guinea Fowl |date=2013-01-15 |publisher=Storey Publishing |isbn=978-1-61212-014-0 |page=20 |language=en}}</ref>

==Taxonomy== The genus ''Meleagris'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title=Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=156 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727063 | access-date=24 August 2021 | archive-date=23 August 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823180804/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727063 | url-status=live }}</ref> The genus name is from the Ancient Greek μελεαγρις, ''meleagris'' meaning "guineafowl".<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=248 }}</ref> The type species is the wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'').<ref>{{cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1934 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=2 | publisher=Harvard University Press | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=139 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14482952 | access-date=24 August 2021 | archive-date=24 August 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824102245/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14482952 | url-status=live }}</ref>

Turkeys are classed in the family Phasianidae (pheasants, partridges, francolins, junglefowl, grouse, and relatives thereof) in the taxonomic order Galliformes.<ref>Crowe, Timothy M.; Bloomer, Paulette; Randi, Ettore; Lucchini, Vittorio; Kimball, Rebecca T.; Braun, Edward L. & Groth, Jeffrey G. (2006a): "Supra-generic cladistics of landfowl (Order Galliformes)". ''Acta Zoologica Sinica'' '''52'''(Supplement): 358–361. [http://people.biology.ufl.edu/ebraun/Papers/CBRLKBG06.pdf PDF fulltext] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100623123002/http://people.biology.ufl.edu/ebraun/Papers/CBRLKBG06.pdf |date=23 June 2010 }}</ref> They are close relatives of the grouse and are classified alongside them in the tribe Tetraonini.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|date=2021-05-01|title=A phylogenomic supermatrix of Galliformes (Landfowl) reveals biased branch lengths|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790321000245|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|language=en|volume=158|article-number=107091|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107091|issn=1055-7903|last1=Kimball|first1=Rebecca T.|last2=Hosner|first2=Peter A.|last3=Braun|first3=Edward L.|pmid=33545275|bibcode=2021MolPE.15807091K |s2cid=231963063|access-date=1 August 2021|archive-date=14 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714191025/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790321000245|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

===Extant species=== The genus contains two species.<ref name=ioc>{{cite web | editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=July 2021 | title=Pheasants, partridges, francolins | work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/pheasants/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=23 August 2021 | archive-date=5 October 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005084940/https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/pheasants/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

{{Species table |genus= Meleagris |authority-name=Linnaeus |authority-year=1758 |species-count=two|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}} {{Species table/row |name=Wild turkey and domestic turkey |binomial=Meleagris gallopavo |image=File:Wildturkey.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption=Male |image2=File:Zelda 14th june 2014 IMG 1476.jpg|image2-caption=Female named Zelda |authority-name=Linnaeus |authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original= |range= The forests of North America, from Mexico (where they were first domesticated in Mesoamerica)<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120809090706.htm|title=Earliest use of Mexican turkeys by ancient Maya|work=ScienceDaily|access-date=2017-09-23|language=en|archive-date=23 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923145034/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120809090706.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> throughout the midwestern and eastern United States and into southeastern Canada |range-image=File:Wild Turkey.png |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= LC |population= |direction= |subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Six subspecies |bullets=on | ''M. g. silvestris'' (Vieillot, 1817) | ''M. g. osceola'' (Scott, 1890) | ''M. g. intermedia'' (Sennett, 1879) | ''M. g. merriami'' (Nelson, 1900) | ''M. g. mexicana'' (Gould, 1856) | ''M. g. gallopavo'' (Linnaeus, 1758) }} }}

{{Species table/row |name=Ocellated turkey |binomial=Meleagris ocellata |image=File:Ocellated Turkey.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption=Male |image2=File:Ocellated Turkey (Agriocharis ocellata) - Coba Archeological Zone QR 2020 03.jpg|image2-caption=Female |authority-name=Cuvier |authority-year=1820 |authority-not-original= |range= The forests of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico<ref name="Farner and King"/> |range-image=File:UbicacionDelPavoOcelado.png |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= NT |population= |direction= |subspecies= }} {{Species table/end}}

===Fossil species=== * ''Meleagris californica'' Californian turkey – Southern California * ''Meleagris crassipes'' Southwestern turkey - New Mexico<ref name="Tyrberg">Tyrberg, T. (2008). The Late Pleistocene continental avian extinction—An evaluation of the fossil evidence. Oryctos, 7, 249–269.</ref>

==History== {{redirect|History of turkeys|the country's history|History of Turkey}} [[File:Animal figures in the Maya codices (Plate 16) BHL41003948.jpg|thumb|upright|Depiction of ocellated turkeys in Maya codices according to the 1910 book, ''Animal figures in the Maya codices'' by Alfred Tozzer and Glover Morrill Allen<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tozzer |first1=Alfred M. |last2=Allen |first2=Glover M. |title=Animal figures in the Maya codices |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41003878 |access-date=25 November 2021 |archive-date=25 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125190849/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41003878 |url-status=live }}</ref>]]

Turkeys were likely first domesticated in Pre-Columbian Mexico, where they held a cultural and symbolic importance.<ref name="Turkey 2019">"Turkey." ''Britannica Library'', Encyclopædia Britannica, 13 Feb. 2019. Accessed 25 May 2022.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sciencealert.com/humans-weren-t-always-after-turkey-meat|title=Study Shows That Humans Domesticated Turkeys For Worshipping, Not Eating|first=David|last=Nield|website=sciencealert.com|date=18 January 2018 |access-date=21 January 2018|archive-date=22 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422172943/https://www.sciencealert.com/humans-weren-t-always-after-turkey-meat|url-status=live}}</ref> The Classical Nahuatl word for the turkey, {{lang|nah|huehxōlō-tl}} ({{lang|es|guajolote}} in Spanish), is still used in modern Mexico, in addition to the general term {{lang|es|pavo}}. Mayan aristocrats and priests appear to have had a special connection to ocellated turkeys, with ideograms of those birds appearing in Mayan manuscripts.<ref>Andrew F. Smith. ''The Turkey : AN AMERICAN STORY''. University of Illinois Press, 2006. (p. 5) Accessed 25 May 2022.</ref> Spanish chroniclers, including Bernal Díaz del Castillo and Father Bernardino de Sahagún, describe the multitude of food (both raw fruits and vegetables as well as prepared dishes) that were offered in the vast markets ({{lang|es|tianguis}}) of Tenochtitlán, noting there were tamales made of turkeys, iguanas, chocolate, vegetables, fruits and more.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

Turkeys were first exported to Europe via Spain around 1519, where they gained immediate popularity among the aristocratic classes.<ref>Andrew F. Smith. ''The Turkey : AN AMERICAN STORY''. University of Illinois Press, 2006. Accessed 25 May 2022.</ref> Turkeys arrived in England in 1541. From there, English settlers brought turkeys to North America during the 17th century.<ref name="Turkey 2019"/>

=== Destruction and re-introduction in the United States === In what is now the United States, there were an estimated 10 million wild turkeys in the 17th century. By the 1930s, only 30,000 remained.<ref name="strib2022">{{cite web|url=https://www.startribune.com/wild-turkeys-minnesota-extinction-endangered-species-conservation-success/600223880/|title=The fall and rise of Minnesota's wild turkeys|first=Greg|last=Stanley|website=Star Tribune|access-date=21 November 2022|archive-date=21 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121192314/https://www.startribune.com/wild-turkeys-minnesota-extinction-endangered-species-conservation-success/600223880/|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1960s and 1970s, biologists started trapping wild turkeys from the few places they remained (including the Ozarks<ref name="strib2022"/> and New York<ref name="audobon2018">{{cite web|url=https://www.audubon.org/news/how-wild-turkeys-took-over-new-england|title=How Wild Turkeys Took Over New England|first=Brianna|last=Abbott|date=20 November 2018|access-date=21 November 2022|archive-date=21 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121193815/https://www.audubon.org/news/how-wild-turkeys-took-over-new-england|url-status=live}}</ref>), and re-introducing them into other states, including Minnesota<ref name="strib2022"/> and Vermont.<ref name="audobon2018"/> Starting in 2014, researchers sent a survey to wildlife biologists in the National Wild Turkey Federation Technical Committee across the U.S. states to gather data regarding the population of turkeys. As of 2019, the wild turkey population declined by around 3% since 2014. Also as of 2019, the number of wild turkey hunters decreased by 18% since 2014 from the reports of the participating U.S. states. The 2019 data for population was missing information from 12 states and the 2019 hunter data was missing information from 8 states.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chamberlain |first1=Michael J. |last2=Hatfield |first2=Mark |last3=Collier |first3=Bret A. |date=2022 |title=Status and distribution of wild turkeys in the United States in 2019 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wsb.1287 |journal=Wildlife Society Bulletin |language=en |volume=46 |issue=2 |article-number=e1287 |doi=10.1002/wsb.1287 |bibcode=2022WSBu...46e1287C |s2cid=248933133 |issn=2328-5540|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Human conflicts with wild turkeys== Turkeys have been known to be aggressive toward humans and pets in residential areas.<ref>{{cite news |last=Annear |first=Steve |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/04/24/masswildlife-warns-turkey-encounters/PUNpVNYvIBltBf9fxFsk7I/story.html |title=MassWildlife warns of turkey encounters |work=The Boston Globe |date=2017-04-24 |access-date=2017-08-25 |archive-date=16 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416044034/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/04/24/masswildlife-warns-turkey-encounters/PUNpVNYvIBltBf9fxFsk7I/story.html }}</ref> Wild turkeys have a social structure and pecking order and habituated turkeys may respond to humans and animals as they do to other turkeys. Habituated turkeys may attempt to dominate or attack people that the birds view as subordinates.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/fish-wildlife-plants/mammals/preventing-conflicts-with-turkeys.html |title=Preventing Conflicts with Wild Turkeys |date=8 March 2013 |publisher=Commonwealth of Massachusetts |access-date=2017-08-25 |archive-date=5 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905145530/http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/fish-wildlife-plants/mammals/preventing-conflicts-with-turkeys.html }}</ref>

In Brookline, Massachusetts, the 30,000{{cn|date=May 2026}} turkeys have become so prominent that they are considered to be the town's unofficial mascot. While some residents find them charming, others have experienced problems with aggressive behavior, particularly during mating season. Brookline has even installed turkey statues around town as part of a public art project.<ref>{{Cite web |last=D'Souza |first=Ashley |date=2024-11-12 |title=Brookline's turkeys, explained |url=https://brookline.news/brooklines-turkeys-explained/ |access-date=2025-07-03 |website=Brookline.News |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2017, Brookline recommended a controversial approach when confronted by wild turkeys. Besides taking a step forward to intimidate the birds, officials also suggested "making noise (clanging pots or other objects together); popping open an umbrella; shouting and waving your arms; squirting them with a hose; allowing your leashed dog to bark at them; and forcefully fending them off with a broom".<ref>{{cite news|last=Sweeney|first=Emily|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/08/25/get-tough-turkeys-brookline-advises-residents/rjEL47Jqof2oZkHEw3CyPP/story.html|title=Don't let aggressive turkeys bully you, Brookline advises residents|work=The Boston Globe|date=2017-08-25|access-date=2017-08-25|archive-date=2017-08-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825164828/http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/08/25/get-tough-turkeys-brookline-advises-residents/rjEL47Jqof2oZkHEw3CyPP/story.html}}</ref> This advice was quickly rescinded and replaced with a caution that "being aggressive toward wild turkeys is not recommended by State wildlife officials".<ref>{{cite news|last=Sweeney|first=Emily|date=2017-09-28|title=Brookline backs down: Don't tussle with the turkeys|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/08/25/get-tough-turkeys-brookline-advises-residents/rjEL47Jqof2oZkHEw3CyPP/story.html|access-date=2022-06-22|website=The Boston Globe|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928155105/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/08/25/get-tough-turkeys-brookline-advises-residents/rjEL47Jqof2oZkHEw3CyPP/story.html|archive-date=2017-09-28|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Fossil record== A number of turkeys have been described from fossils. The Meleagridinae are known from the Early Miocene ({{circa|23}} mya) onwards, with the extinct genera ''Rhegminornis'' (Early Miocene of Bell, U.S.) and ''Proagriocharis'' (Kimball Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Lime Creek, U.S.). The former is probably a basal turkey, the other a more contemporary bird not very similar to known turkeys; both were much smaller birds. A turkey fossil not assignable to genus but similar to ''Meleagris'' is known from the Late Miocene of Westmoreland County, Virginia.<ref name="Farner and King">{{cite book |author= Farner, Donald Stanley |author2= King, James R. |name-list-style= amp |title=Avian biology |publisher=Academic Press |location=Boston |year=1971 |isbn=978-0-12-249408-6 }}</ref>

In the modern genus ''Meleagris'', a considerable number of species have been described, as turkey fossils are robust and fairly often found, and turkeys show great variation among individuals. Many of these supposed fossilized species are now considered junior synonyms. One, the well-documented California turkey ''Meleagris californica'',<ref>Formerly ''Parapavo californica'' and initially described as ''Pavo californica'' or "California peacock"</ref> became extinct recently enough to have been hunted by early human settlers.<ref>{{cite book |author=Broughton, Jack |title=Resource depression and intensification during the late Holocene, San Francisco Bay: evidence from the Emeryville Shellmound vertebrate fauna |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-520-09828-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/resourcedepressi0032brou }}; [https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/02/060213090658.htm lay summary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024100920/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/02/060213090658.htm |date=24 October 2017 }}</ref> It has been suggested that its demise was due to the combined pressures of human hunting and climate change at the end of the last glacial period.<ref>Bochenski, Z. M., and K. E. Campbell Jr. (2006). [http://www.nhm.org/site/sites/default/files/pdf/contrib_science/CS509.pdf The extinct California Turkey, ''Meleagris californica'', from Rancho La Brea: Comparative osteology and systematics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412101807/https://nhm.org/site/sites/default/files/pdf/contrib_science/CS509.pdf |date=12 April 2019 }}. ''Contributions in Science, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County'', Number 509.</ref>

The Oligocene fossil ''Meleagris antiquus'' was first described by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1871. It has since been reassigned to the genus ''Paracrax'', first interpreted as a cracid, then soon after as a bathornithid Cariamiformes.

===Fossil species=== * ''Meleagris'' sp. (Early Pliocene of Bone Valley, U.S.)  * ''Meleagris'' sp. (Late Pliocene of Macasphalt Shell Pit, U.S.)  * ''Meleagris californica'' (Late Pleistocene of southwestern U.S.){{snd}}formerly ''Parapavo/Pavo'' * ''Meleagris crassipes'' (Late Pleistocene of southwestern North America)

Turkeys have been considered by many authorities to be their own family—the Meleagrididae—but a 2007 genomic analysis of a retrotransposon marker groups turkeys in the family Phasianidae.<ref name=Jan>{{cite journal| last1 = Jan| first1 = K.| last2 = Andreas| first2 = M.| last3 = Gennady| first3 = C.| last4 = Andrej| first4 = K.| last5 = Gerald| first5 = M.| last6 = Jürgen| first6 = B.| last7 = Jürgen| first7 = S.| year = 2007| title = Waves of genomic hitchhikers shed light on the evolution of gamebirds (Aves: Galliformes)| journal = BMC Evolutionary Biology| doi = 10.1186/1471-2148-7-190| volume = 7| issue = 1| page = 190| pmid = 17925025| pmc = 2169234| doi-access = free| bibcode = 2007BMCEE...7..190K}}</ref> In 2010, a team of scientists published a draft sequence of the domestic turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') genome.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Dalloul | first1 = R. A. | last2 = Long | first2 = J. A. | last3 = Zimin | first3 = A. V. | last4 = Aslam | first4 = L. | last5 = Beal | first5 = K. | last6 = Blomberg Le | first6 = L. | last7 = Bouffard | first7 = P. | last8 = Burt | first8 = D. W. | last9 = Crasta | first9 = O. | last10 = Crooijmans | first10 = R. P. | last11 = Cooper | first11 = K. | last12 = Coulombe | first12 = R. A. | last13 = De | first13 = S. | last14 = Delany | first14 = M. E. | last15 = Dodgson | first15 = J. B. | last16 = Dong | first16 = J. J. | last17 = Evans | first17 = C. | last18 = Frederickson | first18 = K. M. | last19 = Flicek | first19 = P. | last20 = Florea | first20 = L. | last21 = Folkerts | first21 = O. | last22 = Groenen | first22 = M. A. | last23 = Harkins | first23 = T. T. | last24 = Herrero | first24 = J. | last25 = Hoffmann | first25 = S. | last26 = Megens | first26 = H. J. | last27 = Jiang | first27 = A. | last28 = De Jong | first28 = P. | last29 = Kaiser | first29 = P. | last30 = Kim | first30 = H. | editor1-last = Roberts | editor1-first = Richard J | title = Multi-Platform Next-Generation Sequencing of the Domestic Turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo''): Genome Assembly and Analysis | doi = 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000475 | journal = PLOS Biology | volume = 8 | issue = 9 | article-number = e1000475 | year = 2010 | pmid = 20838655| pmc =2935454 | doi-access = free }}</ref> In 2023 a new improved haplotype-resolved domestic turkey genome was published, which confirmed the large inversion on the Z chromosome not found in other Galliformes, and found new structural variations between the parent haplotypes that provides potential new target genes for breeding.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barros |first1=Carolina P |last2=Derks |first2=Martijn F L |last3=Mohr |first3=Jeff |last4=Wood |first4=Benjamin J |last5=Crooijmans |first5=Richard P M A |last6=Megens |first6=Hendrik-Jan |last7=Bink |first7=Marco C A M |last8=Groenen |first8=Martien A M |title=A new haplotype-resolved turkey genome to enable turkey genetics and genomics research |journal=GigaScience |date=12 December 2022 |volume=12 |article-number=giad051 |doi=10.1093/gigascience/giad051 |language=en |pmc=10360393 |pmid=37489751}}</ref>

==Anatomy== thumb|200px|Anatomical structures on the head and throat of a domestic turkey. 1. caruncles, 2. snood, 3. wattle (dewlap), 4. major caruncle, 5. beard In anatomical terms, a ''snood'' is an erectile, fleshy protuberance on the forehead of turkeys. Most of the time when the turkey is in a relaxed state, the snood is pale and 2–3 cm long. However, when the male begins strutting (the courtship display), the snood engorges with blood, becomes redder and elongates several centimeters, hanging well below the beak (see image).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wild.enature.com/blog/snoods-and-wattles-a-turkeys-story/|title=Snoods and wattles? A turkey's story|author=ENature.com|year=2010|access-date=3 May 2013|archive-date=3 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203230245/http://wild.enature.com/blog/snoods-and-wattles-a-turkeys-story}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tpwmagazine.com/archive/2005/nov/skillbuilder/|title=Know your turkey parts.|author=Graves, R.A.|year=2005|access-date=3 May 2013|archive-date=23 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123184340/https://tpwmagazine.com/archive/2005/nov/skillbuilder/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Snoods are just one of the caruncles (small, fleshy excrescences) that can be found on turkeys.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dickson |first=James G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oVICEKm1U04C&pg=PA33 |title=The Wild Turkey: Biology and Management |date=1992 |publisher=Stackpole Books |isbn=978-0-8117-1859-2 |page=33 |language=en}}</ref>

While fighting, commercial turkeys often peck and pull at the snood, causing damage and bleeding.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Boden |first1=Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rZpCDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA235 |title=Black's Student Veterinary Dictionary |last2=Andrews |first2=Anthony |date=2017-03-24 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4729-3203-7 |page=235 |language=en}}</ref> This often leads to further injurious pecking by other turkeys and sometimes results in cannibalism. To prevent this, some farmers cut off the snood when the chick is young, a process known as "de-snooding".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Boden |first=Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rxAD2cWqYI0C&pg=PA133 |title=Black's Veterinary Dictionary |date=1998 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-389-21017-7 |page=133 |language=en}}</ref>

The snood can be between {{convert|1|and|6|in|cm|0|order=flip}} in length depending on the turkey's sex, health, and mood.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thespruce.com/what-is-a-birds-snood-385372|title=The Turkey's Snood|author=Melissa Mayntz|work=The Spruce |date=28 August 2019|access-date=28 November 2019|archive-date=25 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225024000/https://www.thespruce.com/what-is-a-birds-snood-385372|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Function=== The snood functions in both intersexual and intrasexual selection. Captive female wild turkeys prefer to mate with long-snooded males, and during dyadic interactions, male turkeys defer to males with relatively longer snoods. These results were demonstrated using both live males and controlled artificial models of males.

Data on the parasite burdens of free-living wild turkeys revealed a negative correlation between snood length and infection with intestinal coccidia, deleterious protozoan parasites. This indicates that in the wild, the long-snooded males preferred by females and avoided by males seemed to be resistant to coccidial infection.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://olemiss.edu/depts/biology/people/faculty/buchholz/mate.php|title=Mate choice research|author=Buchholz, R.|access-date=3 May 2013|archive-date=16 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116041654/http://olemiss.edu/depts/biology/people/faculty/buchholz/mate.php|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ny2022">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/21/travel/wild-turkeys-mates.html|title=How Wild Turkeys Find Love|author=Anne Readel|work=The New York Times |date=21 November 2022 |access-date=21 Nov 2022}}</ref> Scientists also conducted a study on 500 male turkeys, gathering data on their snood lengths and blood samples for immune system functionality. They discovered a similar negative correlation. The presence of more red blood cells when the snood is not removed will help to fight off unwanted invaders in their immune system, explaining this trend.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Buchholz |first1=R. |last2=Jones Dukes |first2=M. D. |last3=Hecht |first3=S. |last4=Findley |first4=A. M. |date=2004 |title=Investigating the turkey's 'snood' as a morphological marker of heritable disease resistance |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1439-0388.2004.00449.x |journal=Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics |language=en |volume=121 |issue=3 |pages=176–185 |doi=10.1111/j.1439-0388.2004.00449.x |issn=0931-2668 |archive-date=7 March 2023 |access-date=7 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307011036/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1439-0388.2004.00449.x |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== Behavior == [[File:Turkey - petting zoo - kanagawa 2023 June 25.ogv|thumb|A turkey in a petting zoo in Japan]] {{See also|Wild turkey#Behavior}}

=== Feeding === Wild turkeys feed on various wildlife, depending on the season. In the warmer months of spring and summer, their diet consists mainly of grains such as wheat, corn, and of smaller animals such as grasshoppers, spiders, worms, and lizards. In the colder months of fall and winter, wild turkeys consume smaller fruits and nuts such as grapes, blueberries, acorns, and walnuts. To find this food, they have to continuously forage and feed most during the sunrise and sunset hours.

Domesticated turkeys consume a commercially produced feed formulated to increase the size of the turkeys. To supplement their nutrition, farmers will also feed them grains that wild turkeys eat, such as corn.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Do Wild Turkeys Eat? |url=https://www.thespruce.com/what-do-turkeys-eat-386553 |access-date=2023-02-26 |website=The Spruce |language=en |archive-date=3 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603121918/https://www.thespruce.com/what-do-turkeys-eat-386553 }}</ref>

=== Grooming === Turkeys participate in a number of grooming behaviors including: dusting, sunning, and feather preening. In dusting, turkeys get low on their stomach or side and flap their wings, coating themselves with dirt. This action serves to remove debris build-up on the feathers and also clog tiny pores that parasites such as lice can inhabit. Sunning for turkeys involves bathing in the sunlight, for their top and bottom halves. This can serve to liquidate the oil that turkeys naturally produce, spreading over their feathers and dry their feathers from precipitation at the same time. In feather preening, turkeys are able to remove dirt and bacteria, while also ensuring that non-durable feathers are removed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Daily Rituals of the Wild Turkey - The National Wild Turkey Federation |url=https://www.nwtf.org/content-hub/daily-rituals-of-the-wild-turkey |access-date=2023-02-26 |website=www.nwtf.org |language=en-US |archive-date=23 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240523070241/https://www.nwtf.org/content-hub/daily-rituals-of-the-wild-turkey |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Flight === Though domestic turkeys are considered flightless, wild turkeys can and do fly for short distances. Turkeys are best adapted for walking and foraging; they do not fly as a normal means of travel. When faced with a perceived danger, wild turkeys can fly up to a quarter mile. Turkeys may also make short flights to assist roosting in a tree.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://birdfact.com/articles/can-wild-turkeys-fly|title=Can Wild Turkeys Fly? (Height, Speed, Distance + FAQs)|publisher=BirdFact|access-date=19 February 2023|archive-date=18 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518110605/https://birdfact.com/articles/can-wild-turkeys-fly|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Use by humans== {{See also|Domestic turkey|Turkey meat}} [[File:Turkeyset.JPG|alt=|thumb|A roast turkey surrounded by a Christmas log cake, gravy, sparkling apple cider and vegetables]]

The species ''Meleagris gallopavo'' is eaten by humans. They were first domesticated by the indigenous people of Mexico from at least 800 BC onwards.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Aslam |first1=Muhammad L |last2=Bastiaansen |first2=John WM |last3=Elferink |first3=Martin G |last4=Megens |first4=Hendrik-Jan |last5=Crooijmans |first5=Richard PMA |last6=Blomberg |first6=Le Ann |last7=Fleischer |first7=Robert C |last8=Tassell |first8=Curtis P Van |last9=Sonstegard |first9=Tad S |last10=Schroeder |first10=Steven G |last11=Groenen |first11=Martien AM |last12=Julie |first12=A Long |title=Whole genome SNP discovery and analysis of genetic diversity in Turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') |journal=BMC Genomics |date=2012 |volume=13 |page=391 |doi=10.1186/1471-2164-13-391 |pmid=22891612 |pmc=3496629 |doi-access=free }}</ref> By 200 BC, the indigenous people of what is today the American Southwest had domesticated turkeys; though the theory that they were introduced from Mexico was once influential, modern studies suggest that the turkeys of the Southwest were domesticated independently from those in Mexico. Turkeys were used both as a food source and for their feathers and bones, which were used in both practical and cultural contexts.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Speller |first1=Camilla F. |last2=Kemp |first2=Brian M. |last3=Wyatt |first3=Scott D. |last4=Monroe |first4=Cara |last5=Lipe |first5=William D. |last6=Arndt |first6=Ursula M. |last7=Yang |first7=Dongya Y. |date=2010-02-16 |title=Ancient mitochondrial DNA analysis reveals complexity of indigenous North American turkey domestication |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=107 |issue=7 |pages=2807–2812 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0909724107 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=2840336 |pmid=20133614|bibcode=2010PNAS..107.2807S |doi-access=free }}</ref> Compared to wild turkeys, domestic turkeys are selectively bred to grow larger in size for their meat.<ref name="OneKind-turkey-fact">{{cite web |url=http://www.onekind.org/education/animals_a_z/turkey |title=Amazing Facts About Turkey |publisher=OneKind |access-date=24 December 2015 |archive-date=21 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161121094307/http://www.onekind.org/education/animals_a_z/turkey |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="pbs-turkey-wild-domestic">{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/my-life-as-a-turkey-domesticated-versus-wild-graphic/7360/ |title=My Life as a Turkey – Domesticated versus Wild Graphic |date=14 November 2011 |publisher=PBS |access-date=27 December 2015 |archive-date=9 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009131002/https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/my-life-as-a-turkey-domesticated-versus-wild-graphic/7360/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Turkey forms a central part of modern Thanksgiving celebrations in the United States of America, and is often eaten at similar holiday occasions, such as Christmas.<ref name="why-turkey-eat">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/recycled/2009/11/wherefore_turkey.html |title=Why do we eat turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas? |magazine=Slate |date=25 November 2009 |access-date=24 December 2015 |archive-date=7 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007133242/http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/recycled/2009/11/wherefore_turkey.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="wonderopolis-turkey-thanksgiving">{{cite web |url=http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-do-we-eat-turkey-on-thanksgiving/ |title=Why Do We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving? |publisher=Wonderopolis |access-date=24 December 2015 |archive-date=9 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009131008/https://www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-do-we-eat-turkey-on-thanksgiving/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===The Norfolk turkeys=== In her memoirs, Lady Dorothy Nevill (1826–1913)<ref name=NEVILL>{{cite book |url=https://memory.loc.gov/service/gdc/scd0001/2007/20070601074ma/20070601074ma.pdf |title=Mannington and the Walpoles, Earls of Orford. With ten illustrations of Mannington Hall, Norfolk |last=Nevill |first=Lady Dorothy |location=London |publisher=Fine Art Society |date=1894 |page=22 |access-date=2 December 2019 |archive-date=12 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412101345/https://memory.loc.gov/service/gdc/scd0001/2007/20070601074ma/20070601074ma.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> recalls that her great-grandfather Horatio Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (1723–1809), imported a quantity of American turkeys which were kept in the woods around Wolterton Hall<ref name=NEVILL/> and in all probability were the embryo flock for the popular Norfolk turkey breeds of today.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed" class="center" widths="200" heights="220"> File:Ocellated Turkey.jpg|Chan Chich Lodge area, Belize: the ocellated turkey is named for the eye-shaped spots (ocelli) on its tail feathers File:Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) (16279818861).jpg|A male (tom) wild turkey ''(Meleagris gallopavo)'' strutting (spreading its feathers) in a field File:Henry Walton (1746-1813) - Plucking the Turkey - N02870 - National Gallery.jpg|''Plucking the Turkey'' by Henry Walton, 1776 File:Meleagris ocellata1.jpg|A male ocellated turkey (''Meleagris ocellata'') with a blue head File:Meleagris gallopavo MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.9.30.jpg|Egg of wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') </gallery>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{UCSC genomes|melGal1}} *{{Cookbook-inline|Turkey}}

{{Phasianidae}} {{Pangalliformes|Pha.|state=collapsed}} {{Subject bar|Birds|Agriculture|display=Turkey|wikt=turkey|auto=1}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q43794}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Birds described in 1758 Category:Extant Miocene first appearances Category:Game birds Category:Meleagris Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus