A male wild turkey. Photo by ps50ace / iStock.com.
In celebration of the American holiday of Thanksgiving, here are a five cool facts about turkeys.
1. A turkey’s wattle can change color.
The flap of skin on a turkey’s chin is called a wattle. The wattle is useful for releasing heat on a hot day since turkeys cannot sweat. It can also change color! When male turkeys are trying to attract a mate, it turns bright red. And when they’re frightened, it turns blue!
The flap of skin on a turkey’s chin and neck is called a wattle. Photo by Galina Pavlova / iStock.com.
2. An adult turkey has 5000-6000 feathers.
Turkeys have 8 types of feathers, which provide for insulation, flight, and ornamentation. Some feathers are iridescent, meaning their color seems to change in different lights or from different angles.
A tom turkey with his feathers fanned out. Photo by davidhoffmannphotography / iStock.com.
3. Turkeys can run pretty fast.
Wild turkeys trot at about 19 km/h (12 mph). But when frightened, they can reach speeds as fast as 40 km/h (25 mph)!
A wild turkey running along the side of a road. Photo by Carol Hamilton / iStock.com.
4. Wild turkeys can swim.
Although wild turkeys typically walk or trot, they can also fly (ungracefully) and swim!
Watch a video of a wild turkey swimming across a pond:
5. Turkeys can lay fertilized eggs without mating.
Usually, you need both a male and female turkey to produce a chick. But female turkeys can lay fertilized eggs even when they don’t mate. This process, called parthenogenesis, also occurs in some invertebrates, fish, and lizards. (See our article about Komodo dragons for another example.) For turkeys, this process always produces male chicks.
A wild turkey with chick. Photo by Dennis Laughlin / iStock.com.
Hope you enjoyed our roundup of fun turkey facts. Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble gobble!
