Turkey (bird)

Turkeys are classed in the family of Phasianidae (pheasants, partridges, francolins, junglefowl, grouse, and relatives thereof) in the taxonomic order of Galliformes.[1] The genus Meleagris is the only extant genus in the subfamily Meleagridinae, formerly known as the family Meleagrididae, but now subsumed within the family Phasianidae.

Extant species

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
	Meleagris gallopavo	domestic turkey or wild turkey	forests of North America, from Mexico (where they were first domesticated by the Mayans)[2] throughout the midwest and eastern United States, and into southeastern Canada
	Meleagris ocellata	ocellated turkey	forests of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico.[3]

Plate 1 of The Birds of America by John James Audubon, depicting a wild turkey

Turkeys were domesticated in ancient Mexico, for food and/or for their cultural and symbolic significance.[4] The Aztecs, for example, had a name for the turkey, wueh-xōlō-tl (guajolote in Spanish), a word still used in modern Mexico in addition to the general term pavo. 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 (tianguis) of Tenochtitlán, noting there were tamales made of turkey, iguana, chocolate, vegetables, fruit, and more. The ancient people of Mexico had not only domesticated the turkey but had apparently developed sophisticated recipes including these ingredients—many used to this day—over hundreds of years.

There are two theories for the derivation of the name turkey, according to Columbia University professor of Romance languages Mario Pei.[5] One theory is that when Europeans first encountered turkeys in America, they incorrectly identified the birds as a type of guineafowl, which were already being imported into Europe by Turkey merchants via Constantinople and were therefore nicknamed Turkey coqs. The name of the North American bird thus became turkey fowl or Indian turkeys, which was then shortened to just turkeys.[5][6][7]

A second theory arises from turkeys coming to England not directly from the Americas, but via merchant ships from the Middle East, where they were domesticated successfully. Again the importers lent the name to the bird; Middle Eastern merchants were called Turkey merchants as much of that area was part of the Ottoman Empire. Hence the name Turkey-cocks and Turkey-hens, and soon thereafter, turkeys.[5][8]

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".[9] William Shakespeare used the term in Twelfth Night,[10] believed to be written in 1601 or 1602. The lack of context around his usage suggests that the term was already widespread.

Other languages have other names for turkeys. Many of these names incorporate an assumed Indian origin, such as dinde ('from India') in French, индюшка (indyushka, 'bird of India') in Russian, indyk in Polish and Ukrainian, and hindi ('India') in Turkish. These are thought to arise from the supposed belief of Christopher Columbus that he had reached India rather than the Americas on his voyage.[5] In Portuguese a turkey is a peru; the name is thought to derive from the eponymous country Peru.[11]

Several other birds that are sometimes called turkeys are not particularly closely related: the brushturkeys are megapodes, and the bird sometimes known as the "Australian turkey" is the Australian bustard (Ardeotis australis). The anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) is sometimes called a water turkey, from the shape of its tail when the feathers are fully spread for drying.

An infant turkey is called a chick or poult.

Turkeys have been known to be aggressive toward humans and pets in residential areas.[12] Wild turkeys have a social structure and pecking order and habituated turkeys may respond to humans and animals as they do to another turkey. Habituated turkeys may attempt to dominate or attack people that the birds view as subordinates.[13]

The town of Brookline, Massachusetts, recommends that citizens be aggressive toward the turkeys, take a step towards them, and not back down. Brookline officials have also recommended "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."[14]

A number of turkeys have been described from fossils. The Meleagridinae are known from the Early Miocene (c. 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.[3] 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,[15] became extinct recently enough to have been hunted by early human settlers.[16] 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.[17]

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.

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, the 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 centimetres, hanging well below the beak (see image).[20][21]

Snoods are just one of the caruncles (small, fleshy excrescences) that can be found on turkeys.

While fighting, commercial turkeys often peck and pull at the snood, causing damage and bleeding. 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 desnooding.

The snood can be between one and six inches in length depending on the turkey's sex, health, and mood.[22]

A roast turkey surrounded by Christmas log cake, gravy, sparkling juice, and vegetables

The species Meleagris gallopavo is used by humans for their meat. They were first domesticated by the indigenous people of Mexico from at least 800 BC onwards. These domesticates were then either introduced into what is now the US Southwest or independently domesticated a second time by the indigenous people of that region by 200 BC, at first being used for their feathers, which were used in ceremonies and to make robes and blankets.[24] Turkeys were first used for meat by Native Americans by about AD 1100.[24] Compared to wild turkeys, domestic turkeys are selectively bred to grow larger in size for their meat.[25][26] Americans often eat turkey on special occasions such as at Thanksgiving or Christmas.[27][28]

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  A male wild turkey strutting
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  A male domestic turkey strutting
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  Chan Chich Lodge area, Belize: the ocellated turkey is named for the eye-shaped spots (ocelli) on its tail feathers.

• Meleagris at Curlie
• View the melGal1 genome assembly in the UCSC Genome Browser.