Talk:Turkey (bird)

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[edit] Missing information

I was interested in the life expectancy and age of maturity for the turkey, but couldn't find any info here. I think it should be added, but unfortunately I don't have that information (or else I wouldn't come here), and don't know where to find it (or I'd just go there instead of writing this). Cheers! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.208.73.27 (talk) 13:27, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] meaning of the hebrew

I'd been taught since gradeschool that the turkey got its hebrew name from Jewish immigrants writing home and asking their rabbies whether turkey was kosher and if it was idol worship to celebrate thanksgiving. Reaching for words to describe the bird, they called it a 'chicken of thanksgiving'. My Hebrew grammar isn't the best, but I believe that "hodu" is, in fact, the adjective form of "hodah". Hodu does mean Indian, but it doesn't make sense, as the bird is from America, and that word applies to old world Indians. --REwhite 03:24, 10 Mar 2005 (UTC)

You will find, reading between the lines, that the older languages have appropriated the name Turkey from the American English idiom, hence calling both the actual Turkey Bird, as well as the Guinea Foul, by the same name. The Guinea foul being the Indian Chicken...Kingerik 04:18, 11 November 2005 (UTC)
Guinea_fowl are completely different from the Indian red jungle fowl. Liam Markham 15:41, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

For those who don't speak Hebrew, the Hebrew term for the Turkey bird is "hodu" (הודו), which is also the name of the country India. The root of the word hodu is the same root as the word for thankfulness. So it is logical that the name of the bird is related to the thanksgiving holiday (or India). Dotancohen (talk) 17:28, 5 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Why is it called Turkey in English?

And not Kalkun (-and related), like in the other germanic languages? Is it because the Britons not liked Turks, so they named a ugly bird after them? --Comanche cph 20:47, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

See Turkey#Naming. Romperomperompe 06:08, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

I've separated list of names for the Wild Turkey because part of it is generic (in the opening paragraph, and the rest applies to the Wild Turkey or its domesticated descendants, and therefore falls between two stools. jimfbleak 11:00, 28 July 2006 (UTC)


How did the turkey get its name? Well, actually, it got its name from an African guineafowl. The Spanish originally brought the bird back from the Americas, yes, but when the English saw it they thought it was a bird that they usually saw shipped over from (you guessed it) Turkey. The rest is history.

[edit] Taxonomy and classification

Turkeys are currently included in the subfamily Meleagridinae (see the appropriate entries in Wikispecies and ITIS). Meleagrididae should be changed for Meleagridinae. --Michael Romanov 05:06, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

The taxonomy template refers to Family Phasianidae. Article Phasianidae mentions Meleagrididae as a sub-family according to the American Ornithologists' Union; this article calls the sub-family Meleagridinae. In the article Phasianidae the genus Meleagris does not occur in the list if genera. There is obviously not a censensus about the classification, but the lack of consistency between articles adds to the confusion. DavidCh0 16:00, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Turkey Eggs

Female turkeys lay eggs every 236 days beginning 412 days from hatching. There have been extensive studies to determine the timing of the cycle, most notably by MIT researcher Malakihi Samburoi. Hereto date there has been no conclusive evidence to support any one theory. The most popular theory has the turkey linked in a semi-symbiosis with the thartcher grub, a staple food source for the turkey. Normally a prey/predator relationship does not qualify for symbiosis, but given the dependence of the turkey's reproductive cycle on the thartcher grub, an exception is made. The thartcher grub is the larvae form of the North American Volutan Moth, the largest moth species to exist in both North and Central America. The grub contains large amounts of protein and calcium carbonate, both of which exist in only trace amounts in the adult moth (lost mainly in the formation of the cocoon). The grubs are prime as a food source just before they begin metamorphosis, which is when the turkeys ingest them. The grubs require 28 days to hatch from eggs, and 101 days to gestate before entering metamorphosis. This results in the timing of the turkey's egg-laying cycle (theoretically). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.180.38.20 (talk) 20:54, 28 September 2007 (UTC)


My 7yr old wanted to know how often turkeys lay eggs. I told her it was another Wiki quest but it wasn't here! Does anybody know? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.198.6.175 (talk) 02:35, 5 December 2006 (UTC).


[edit] Groups of Turkeys=

A group of Crows is known as a "murder"...what is a group of Turkeys called ?

A flock, same as crows, "murder" is a made-up literary term. jimfbleak 06:22, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

As there is a "murder" of crows, there is a "rafter" of turkeys. Groups of turkeys can also be called brood, flock, or bale. Cybob 21:04, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Names in other languages

There is only one list, the article seems to point to two. Rich Farmbrough, 21:39 2 March 2007 (GMT).

[edit] Link to Domesticated Turkey

I don't think the domestication of the turkey is an sufficiently unsignificant event to merit a mere "see also" link in this article. Jo7hs2 (talk) 23:29, 22 November 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Eating turkeys?

Shouldn't there be something in this article about eating turkeys? I know that in America they're eaten on Thanksgiving. What's the significance, and the history in this? The turkey is also eaten on Christmas Day in some countries; it certainly is here in Britain. What about some facts, such as the fact that Benjamin Franklin wanted America's national bird to be a turkey? I just thought I'd say, because it seems important. After all, that is why I looked up the turkey in the first place...to find out when they're also eaten other than Christmas and Thanksgiving. Crazy Eddy (talk) 07:26, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

Oh no, wait a minute; it's all under Domesticated turkey! Great! :) Crazy Eddy (talk) 07:29, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Ben Franklin

There should be something about Ben Franklin and the Turkey as the symbol for the USA. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.175.196.102 (talk) 22:08, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Irish claim?

I've removed the nonsensical (and unsupported) claim about an Irish turkey farm at the beginning of the 15th century. If the bird is native to North America, and North America was only discovered by Europe at the end of the 15th century, it follows that this just doesn't make sense.Rpine75 (talk) 21:37, 8 May 2008 (UTC)