There are many things I love about being a member of the proud Crystal Lake Camps turkey clan. First of all, turkeys have their own day every year, called Turkey Day, though some may also refer to it as Thanksgiving. It is a day when everybody gives thanks for turkeys. Secondly, turkeys are clever and very beautiful, which is why their feathers were once used both as quill pens to write clever things and as adornment for beautiful Native American headdresses.
The following is a list of other clever and beautiful trivia about the greatest bird in North America: the turkey.
- Male turkeys are called toms, female turkeys are called hens, and young turkeys are called poults.
- Only tom turkeys gobble. Hens make a sort of clicking sound
- Turkeys live on a diet of seeds, nuts, insects, and berries
- Turkeys are the only breed of poultry native to the Western Hemisphere. As far back as 1000 AD, Native American Indians raised turkeys for food. Aztec Indians in Mexico were raising them as early as 200 BC.
- Benjamin Franklin believed the turkey would have been a much more suitable choice for a national bird, stating that the bald eagle was “a bird of bad moral character.”
“For in truth, the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America.”
Benjamin Franklin
- Did you know that wild turkeys could fly? Wild turkeys can fly up to 55 mph for short distances, though they prefer to run. A wild turkey can run 20 mph!
- A turkeys speed is only one of several reasons they are difficult to hunt. Only one in six hunters will bag a wild turkey during hunting season every year.
- Although they have no external ears, they have excellent hearing. They also have a 270 degree field of vision. Turkeys often sleep in trees for safety as well.
- The loose red skin under a turkey’s beak is called the wattle. The red skin that hangs over their nose is called a snood.
- Since 1947, the National Turkey Federation has presented the President of the United States with a live pardoned turkey, which will live out the rest of its days in Morven Park in Leesburg, VA.
Turkeys of Crystal Lake Camps, show your turkey pride this year by going onto social media and posting pictures of yourself sporting your turkey clan shirt with the tag #CLCTurkeyPride. This is our week, so let’s make the best of it and express our thanks for our favorite bird!
Margaret the turkey picking cranberries by Hidden Pond
This article was written by Margaret, summer 2015 Girls Head Counsellor, year round Social Media Coordinator, and lifelong member of the turkey clan.
References:
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/tgturkeyfacts.html
http://www.almanac.com/content/turkey-trivia
http://www.eatturkey.com/why-turkey/history
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/14-fun-facts-about-turkeys-665520/
http://www.holidayinsights.com/tday/turkey.htm
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