Have you ever noticed all the fun fall decorations in your neighborhood? One of the most common decorations Squeaks and I see are turkeys! Turkeys are often connected with Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada, and some people even raise them on farms. But did you know there are also wild turkeys? They’re pretty cool birds with lots of interesting facts to learn about!
You might already know one of the sounds a turkey makes. On the count of three, let’s all try to make that sound. Ready? One, two, three! Did you make a sound like “gobble gobble”? That’s right! But only the male turkeys, called toms, make that famous gobbling sound, and they only do it sometimes. Both toms and female turkeys, called hens, can make other sounds too.
Here’s a funny way to tell toms and hens apart: look at their poop! If the turkey poop looks like a spiral, it came from a hen. If it looks more like the letter J or a question mark, then it came from a tom turkey.
Both tom and hen turkeys eat similar things. They munch on berries, seeds, and sometimes even small animals like salamanders. But turkeys don’t have teeth, so they can’t chew their food like we do. Instead, they have a special body part called a gizzard.
The gizzard is a small pouch full of muscles. It’s located inside the turkey’s body and is filled with tiny stones and hard pieces like gravel. Turkeys swallow these stones, and they stay in the gizzard. When food gets into the gizzard, the muscles squeeze it, mixing the food with the stones. This mashes the food into smaller pieces so the turkey can use it for energy.
Turkeys have two special body parts on their head: the snood and the wattle. The snood is the flap of skin that hangs over the turkey’s beak, and the wattle is the skin around the turkey’s neck. Bird experts can tell a lot about how a turkey is feeling by looking at its snood and wattle. Normally, they are pink or red, but if the turkey isn’t feeling well, they get lighter. If the turkey is scared, they can even turn blue!
You might have heard that turkeys aren’t very smart, but that’s not true! Turkeys can be just as smart as other animals. They can learn to get along with people and other animals, and they can even learn from each other.
Now you know all about Thanksgiving’s famous bird, the turkey! Thanks for joining us. If you want to keep learning and having fun with Squeaks and me, hit the subscribe button, and we’ll see you next time here at the fort.
Turkey Sound Exploration: Go outside or to a park and listen for bird sounds. Can you hear any that sound like a turkey’s “gobble gobble”? Try to mimic the sounds you hear. Discuss with a friend or family member why you think only tom turkeys gobble. What other bird sounds can you identify?
Gizzard Experiment: Gather some small stones and a few pieces of soft food like bread or berries. Place them in a small, sturdy bag. Gently squeeze and shake the bag to mimic how a turkey’s gizzard works. Observe how the stones help break down the food. Talk about why this is important for turkeys since they don’t have teeth.
Turkey Observation Journal: Create a journal to observe turkeys or other birds in your area. Draw pictures of the birds you see and note any special features like the snood or wattle. Write down what the birds are doing and how they interact with their environment. Share your observations with your class or family.
