TURKEY  

The turkey is a large game bird native to North American forested areas and now raised commercially for food in most parts of the world. Two species--the wild turkey, Meleagris gallopavo, of the eastern and central United States and Mexico, and the ocellated turkey, Agriocharis ocellata, of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and adjacent areas--make up the family Meleagrididae, which is classified with pheasants in the order Galliformes. An adult male wild turkey is about 1.2 m (4 ft) long and has metallic greenish, bronze, or brownish plumage, broad rounded wings and tail, and long, slim, spurred legs. A tuft of hairlike feathers hangs from the breast, a fleshy growth called a snood adorns the front of the head, and brightly colored growths called caruncles and a pouchlike area called a wattle mark the throat region. The smaller ocellated turkey lacks the tuft of breast feathers, is more brilliantly colored, and has bright eyespots on the tail coverts. Turkeys feed on acorns, seeds, berries, and insects. The hen alone incubates the 11 to 20 pale spotted eggs for approximately 28 days; the young are called poults.

Domestication of the turkey probably began in Mexico. The Spanish carried the bird to Europe in the 16th century, and the Pilgrims brought several domesticated turkeys with them to America in 1620. Since then several varieties have been developed, including the popular family-size table bird, the Beltsville white.