Domestic turkey

The domestic turkey (*Meleagris gallopavo domesticus*) is a large bird, sharing its species with the wild turkey and belonging to the same genus as one other species. People first domesticated it in central Mesoamerica at least 2,000 years ago. Today’s main varieties come from turkeys raised in central Mexico, which Spanish explorers brought to Europe during the 1500s. This fowl is widely raised across temperate regions, largely because industrial farming has made it very inexpensive relative to the meat it yields. Hens are the females, while chicks are called poults or turkeylings. In Canada and the United States, males are known as toms; in the United Kingdom and Ireland, they are called stags. Most domestic turkeys are bred with white feathers because the pin feathers are less noticeable on a dressed carcass, though brown or bronze varieties exist. The fleshy bump on top of the beak is the snood, and the one hanging below the beak is the wattle. The English name likely came from an early mix-up with an unrelated bird, the guineafowl, which reached England via the country of Turkey. The Latin species name *gallopāvō* means “chicken peacock.”

**History**

The modern domestic turkey descends from the South Mexican subspecies of wild turkey, found in central Mexico within an area bounded by the present-day states of Jalisco, Guerrero, and Veracruz. Ancient Mesoamericans domesticated this subspecies, using its meat and eggs as key protein sources and its feathers extensively for decoration. The Aztecs linked the turkey to their trickster god Tezcatlipoca, possibly because of its seemingly humorous behavior. The Spanish took domestic turkeys to Europe, where many distinct breeds emerged, such as the Spanish Black and Royal Palm. In the early 1900s, breeding advances produced breeds like the Beltsville Small White. English navigator William Strickland is generally credited with introducing the turkey to England in the 1500s; his family coat of arms, featuring a turkey cock, is among the earliest European depictions. English farmer Thomas Tusser mentioned turkey as Christmas fare in 1573. The domestic turkey was sent from England to Jamestown, Virginia, in 1608, and a 1584 document listed “turkies, male and female” as supplies for future colonies. Before the late 1800s, turkey was a luxury in the UK, with goose or beef more common for working-class Christmas dinners. In Charles Dickens’ *A Christmas Carol* (1843), Bob Cratchit had a goose before Scrooge bought him a turkey. UK turkey production centered in East Anglia, using the Norfolk Black and Norfolk Bronze breeds, which were driven, after shoeing, to London markets from the 1600s onward—these breeds had arrived from Spain in the early 1500s. Intensive farming from the late 1940s dramatically cut prices, making turkey more affordable. Refrigeration allowed frozen whole turkeys to be shipped far away, and later disease control advances boosted production further. Improvements in shipping, changing consumer tastes, and the spread of commercial poultry plants have made fresh turkey both cheap and widely available. Recent genome analysis has let researchers trace the evolutionary history of domestic turkeys and their relationship to other domestic fowl.

**Behavior**

Young domestic turkeys can fly short distances, perch, and roost, though these behaviors decrease as they age. Adults will still climb onto objects like straw bales. Young birds engage in spontaneous, frivolous running that looks like play. Commercial turkeys display a range of “comfort” behaviors, including wing-flapping, feather ruffling, leg stretching, and dust-bathing. They are highly social and become very distressed when isolated. Many behaviors are socially facilitated—one bird’s action increases the chance others will do the same. Adults can recognize strangers, and introducing an unfamiliar turkey into an established group almost always leads to attacks, sometimes fatal. Turkeys are very vocal, and social tension within a group can be gauged by their calls. A high-pitched trill signals growing aggression, which can escalate into intense sparring where opponents leap at each other with large, sharp talons and try to peck or grab the head. Aggression becomes more frequent and severe as birds mature. Maturing males spend much time sexually displaying, much like wild turkeys: they fan their tail feathers, droop their wings, and erect all body feathers, including the “beard” (a tuft of black, hair-like feathers on the breast’s center). The skin on the head, neck, and caruncles turns bright blue and red, the snood elongates, and the birds “sneeze” at regular intervals, followed by rapid tail-feather vibration. Throughout, they strut slowly with arched necks, thrusting their breasts forward while making characteristic sounds.