Turkey Tidbits

• At one time, the turkey and the bald eagle were each considered as the national symbol of America. Benjamin Franklin was one of those who argued passionately on behalf of the turkey. Franklin felt the turkey, although "vain and silly," was a better choice than the bald eagle, whom he felt was "a coward" - characterizations that had little to do with the actual behavior and natural history of the birds.
• The Wild Turkey ( Meleagris gallopavo ) declined dramatically throughout its range by the mid-1800's due to loss of prime forest habitat and unrestricted hunting. It was believedto be extripated (eliminated) from New England and New York by 1851. Imposing of defined hunting seasons, captive breeding of birds, and natural expansion of existing populations helped restore the Wild Turkey to much of its range in Pennsylvania.

• According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 45 million turkeys are cooked and eaten in the U.S. at Thanksgiving — that's one-sixth of all turkeys sold in the U.S. each year. American per-capita consumption of turkeys has soared from 8.3 pounds in 1975 to 18.5 pounds in 1999. The great majority of these birds are not Wild Turkey harvested from the wild but farm-bred turkeys.

Today's photo of our native Wild Turkey was taken in a residential area near Allison Park, Pa. and is part of our free Thanksgiving Screensaver.

Reference: Teachervision.com

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