Thanksgiving is only a week away and to honor this all-American holiday, my blog is devoted to talking turkey! Here are 10 turkey fun facts you can share with your friends and family when you gather around the dinner table next Thursday.
- Ohio is the 10th largest turkey-producing state with 5.5 million birds produced in 2012. Minnesota is ranked first, followed by North Carolina and Arkansas.
- According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 45 million turkeys are served during the Thanksgiving holiday.
- Founding father Benjamin Franklin is rumored to have preferred the wild turkey to the bald eagle as the nation’s symbol. He considered the turkey to be more respectable.
- Turkeys, which are a type of pheasant, are the only breed of poultry native to the Western hemisphere.
- Despite their size, turkeys prefer to sleep in trees to avoid predators, such as coyotes, foxes and raccoons.
- Only male turkeys gobble, which along with a strut, is used to attract female turkeys.
- While domesticated turkeys can’t fly, wild turkeys can fly short distances with speed up to 55 miles per hour.
- Turkeys can rotate their heads for a 360-degree field of vision. Turkeys also have great hearing, despite having no external ears.
- Turkeys are prone to heart attacks.
- In 2012, U.S. consumption of turkey was 16 pounds per person.
Do you have any turkey fun facts or trivia that didn’t make the list? Please share them!
* Fun facts courtesy of livescience.com and infoplease.com.
Photo obtained from: www.livescience.com
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