A large North American game bird, the heaviest of the chicken-like birds. Domestic turkeys come from a Mexican subspecies taken to Europe by the Spanish in the 16th century.
Quick answers
What is it?Bird
Carnivore?Omnivore
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?Yes
Awake when?Daytime
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?Yes
Industrial farming made it cheap meat; Native Americans ate wild turkeys and their eggs.
At a glance
Found inNorth America
HabitatForest, Grassland, Farmland
ColoursBrown, Black
SizeLarge
Weight3.6–11 kg (wild turkey)
Legs2
Covered inFeathers
Lives inflocks
Lives for3–5 years
Can fly
Lays eggs
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Native to North America, including Mexico; domestic turkeys are farmed worldwide.
- What it eats
- An omnivore; acorns and wild oats are favourites.
Did you know
Domestic turkeys descend from a Mexican wild turkey the Spanish took to Europe in the 1500s.
Wild turkeys are fast, agile fliers, but the biggest domestic turkeys can barely fly.
Often confused with
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