...That's When I Remembered the Turkey Quiz

Answer: Poult

Baby turkeys are called poults, and have a diet that includes seeds, berries, and insects. As they grow, their diet will become more varied and can include acorns, small fruits and even small rodents. The turkey is an adaptable bird that will eat whatever is available during various times of the year.

Answer: A female turkey will usually lay between 10-12 eggs .

When a female turkey (hen) is ready to lay eggs, she will lay one egg a day for about two weeks. After an incubation period of about 28 days the eggs will start to hatch, one at a time, for about two weeks. This means that the babies will leave one at a time for about two weeks.

This drawn-out mating routine appears to give the best chance at life for a young turkey. As for the other answers, turkey eggs are off-white, not green, only females lay eggs, and males do not eat their young.

Answer: Rafter

The proper term for a group of wild turkeys is 'a rafter of turkeys'. This term can be used for all types of turkeys and the origin of the term is debated.

Answer: True

As strange as it might sound, this is true. Male turkeys have spiral shaped poop while a female's poop looks like a fish hook. Now you have some wild, totally trivial trivia to impress your friends with!

Answer: Gobbler

Male turkeys are called "gobblers" and females are called "hens". Their name is derived from the sound they make when announcing themselves to females or challenging other males. Turkeys do make a variety of other noises including yelping sounds, purring sounds, and clicking sounds. Male turkeys can also be called 'toms' in some areas.

Answer: North America

In all, there are two species of turkeys, both of which are native to North America. The pilgrims were known to hunt Meleagris gallopavo, also known as the wild turkey. The domestic turkey is descended from this species. It has a range that covers most of the United States and southern Canada. Meleagris ocellata or ocellated turkey is found in the forests of the extreme southeastern parts of the Yucatan Peninsula.

While they are related, the two species look quite different. Ocellated Turkeys have iridescent green feathers, blue heads and lack the beards found on the wild turkey.

There is a bird called a bush turkey, found in Australia, but it is not closely related.

Answer: True

Due to over-hunting the wild turkey was threatened with extinction at the turn of the 20th century. Down from populations that numbered in the millions, turkey populations dropped to a low of approximately 30,000 birds. Restoration projects, and the natural resilience of the turkey brought the population back up to over seven million just one hundred years later.

Answer: They can fly

Wild turkeys have the ability to fly as fast as 55 mph and run at speeds of up to 25 mph. Domesticated turkeys cannot fly at all and can walk fast for very short spurts. The reason for this is the larger breast of the domestic turkey which makes the animal somewhat unbalanced and too heavy to fly or run.

The wild turkey is much sleeker than the domesticated turkey and is often seen roosting in trees, which are inaccessible to the domestic turkey.

Answer: Snood

The snood is a fleshy appendage that hangs from the forehead of a male turkey. Most of the time the snood appears a pale dangling piece of flesh, but when the male turkey becomes aroused it engorges with blood, elongates, and becomes dark in color. Male turkeys will attempt to grab the snood of a competing male and serious damage can be done. Major injury to a male turkey's snood can lead to attacks by multiple males which sometimes ends in cannibalism. Snood length is an indicator of the health of a male turkey and studies have shown that female turkeys appear to prefer males with a long snood.

The other growths around the head and neck of turkeys are referred to as caruncles, wattles and/or dewlaps.

Answer: Sharp leg spurs

An adult male turkey has sharp leg spurs which it uses when fighting. Many a careless hunter has cut himself on these when picking up a turkey. An adult male turkey weighs between 15-23 pounds when fully grown, while a female only averages about 8-10 pounds. A male turkey sports a beard of modified feathers on his breast which reach a length of about seven inches. Female have neither spurs nor beards or wattle (the red dangly bit under the chin), and only a few feathers on the head.