Domesticated turkey

Meleagris gallopavo

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Meleagris ocellata

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Domesticated Turkeys are large poultry birds raised for food. Turkeys are traditionally eaten as the main course of large feasts at Christmas in Europe and North America, as well as Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada, in both cases having displaced the traditional goose. While eating turkey was once mainly restricted to special occasions such as these, turkey is now eaten year round and forms a regular part of many diets.

Related Topics:
Poultry - Bird - Christmas - Thanksgiving - United States - Canada - Goose

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Despite the name, turkeys do not come from Turkey and are native to North America. See the main article on turkeys.

Related Topics:
Turkey - North America - Turkeys

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The domesticated turkey is descended from the North American Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo. The Aztecs domesticated the southern Mexican form, M. g. gallopavo, one of six subspecies.

Related Topics:
North America - Wild Turkey - Aztec - Mexican

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The turkey is reared throughout temperate parts of the World, and is a popular form of poultry because industrialised farming has made it very cheap for the amount of meat it produces.

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In the USA, the female domesticated turkey is referred to as a hen, a male as a tom, a chick as a poult and a castrated turkey as a hokie. In Europe, the male is a stag.

Related Topics:
USA - Hen - Tom - Poult - Hokie - Europe

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The great majority of domesticated turkeys have white feathers, although brown or bronze-feathered varieties are also raised.

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