Turkey (bird)
From Freepedia
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A turkey is either of two species of large birds in the genus Meleagris. Turkeys are birds classed in the gamebird order with fan-shaped tails and wattled necks. As with many galliform species, the female is smaller than the male, and less colourful. With their wingspans of 1.5-1.8 metres, the turkeys are by far the largest birds in the open forests in which they live, and are rarely mistaken for any other birds. A juvenile turkey is known as a poult. The males are commonly called toms and the females hens.
The species are the North American Wild Turkey (M. gallopavo) and the Central American Ocellated Turkey (M. ocellata).
They are commonly domesticated and used for poultry. The modern domesticated turkey was developed from the Wild Turkey. The Ocellated Turkey was probably also domesticated by the Mayans. It has been speculated that this species is more tractable than its northern counterpart, and was the source of the present domesticated stock, but there is no morphological evidence to support this theory. In particular, the chest tuft of domestic turkeys is a clear indicator of descent from the Wild Turkey (the Ocellated Turkey does not have this tuft).
Approximately two to four billion pounds of poultry feathers are produced every year by the poultry producing industry. Most of the feathers are usually ground up and used as filler for animal feed. Researchers at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have patented a method of removing the stiff quill from the fibers which make up the feather. As this a potential untapped supply of natural fibers, research has been conducted at Philadelphia University to determine textile applications for feather fibers. To date, turkey feather fibers have been blended with nylon and spun into yarn which was then used for knitting. The yarns were tested for strength while the fabrics were evaluated as potential insulation materials. In the case of the yarns, as the percentage of turkey feather fibers increased the strength decreased. In fabric form, as the percentage of turkey feather fibers increased the heat retention capability of the fabric increased.
When Europeans first encountered the turkey in the Americas, they incorrectly identified it with the African Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris), also known as the turkey-cock from its importation to Europe through Turkey, and the name stuck. It remains also in the scientific name: meleagris is Greek for guinea-fowl.
Turkey hunting is a popular sport in North America. Although often deemed foolish and easily confused, the turkey is a game animal of considerable cunning.
The name of the game
Image:Turkeys on path.jpg Several other birds which are sometimes called "turkeys" are not particularly closely related: the Australian brush-turkey is a megapode, and the bird sometimes known as the "Australian turkey" is in fact the Australian bustard, a gruiform.
The names for the Turkey in English and other languages frequently reflect its exotic origins, seen from an Old World viewpoint, and confusion about where it actually comes from. Thus, in English, "turkey" is spelled and pronounced exactly like Turkey (the country of Turkish people).
In Turkish the bird is called hindi which means "coming from India". Likewise, in the Hebrew language the turkey is called tarnegol hodu, which literally means "Indian chicken" (though some say that hodu is the adjective form of hoda, meaning thanks or praise, or hoda'a, meaning thanksgiving). In Catalan it is called gall dindi, literally meaning "Indian rooster".
The Dutch word is kalkoen (Danish kalkun, Swedish kalkon), derived from the city Calicut in India.
In Portuguese the word for turkey is peru which also refers to the country Peru. In Arabic it is called "Ethiopian bird" and in Greek it is gallopoula which means "French girl" or "French bird."
In Japan the turkey is called shichimencho (七面鳥) and in Korea chilmyeonjo, both of which translate as "seven-faced bird". This is said to reflect the ability of the bird, particularly the male, to change the form of its face depending on its mood.
