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- Permanent Link:
- http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpService/dpPurlService/purl/FI14090848/00001
Notes
- Scope and Content:
- Source: Turkeys 1
Length of Segment: 00:01:03
Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. When the Pilgrims ate turkey on that first Thanksgiving nearly four centuries ago, it was not a novel New World experience. Although wild turkeys were said to be plentiful in Massachusetts at the time, the Pilgrims might also have brought turkeys with them from England. The wild turkey is native to eastern North America with populations extending along the Gulf Coast and well into Mexico. The Indians of Mexico had domesticated turkeys and used them not as a source of meat, but as a source of bronze-colored feathers from which they made capes for their leaders. When Spanish explorers visited the Indians in the 1500s, they saw the turkey as a source of meat, and took a few of the birds back to Europe in about 1519, a century before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. Because at first there were few turkeys in Europe, they were only killed on special occasions; thus, turkeys became associated with holiday feasts. ( English,English,English,English,English )
- Scope and Content:
- Source: Turkeys 2
Length of Segment: 00:00:58
Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. The wild turkey is a bottomland forest bird that was once found through most of eastern United States into southern Ontario and across the southwest well into Mexico. Lewis and Clark encountered it far up the Missouri, but it was absent or rare in most western states. As forests disappeared and human populations grew, the combination of habitat destruction and uncontrolled hunting decimated turkey populations. By the mid-1800s, they were all but gone from New England. By the early 1900s, they remained common only in the southeastern swamp forests. With a strong conservation movement, re-growth of forests, and regulated hunting during the twentieth century, wild turkeys were widely introduced. Today, they occur in the wild in every state in the continental United States except Alaska.
- Scope and Content:
- Source: Turkeys 3
Length of Segment: 00:01:09
Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Although our domesticated turkeys are descended from the wild turkeys that occur through most of the eastern United States and south into Mexico, the domesticated birds can easily be distinguished from the wild turkeys in Florida. How, and why? To begin, nearly four centuries of breeding turkeys for the dinner table has resulted in our selection of birds that produce more meat. Hence, captive birds tend to maximize the qualities we want. They also get less exercise and a diet that helps them put on pounds. Wild turkeys are adapted for being able to escape predators and can fly strongly for short distances. Their diet also varies seasonally with availability of seeds and fruits. They're leaner and tougher birds. Distinguishing wild turkeys form domesticated ones, however, doesn't take a weight comparison. Wild turkeys have a buff to rusty-colored band at the tip of each tail feather, whereas domestic turkeys, like their ancestors from the population in Mexico, have a white band at the tip of their tail.
- Scope and Content:
- Source: Turkeys 4
Length of Segment: 00:01:05
Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. The name of our wild turkey is a consequence of confusion over the origin of these big birds, and our bird isn't the first to have the name 'turkey'. The first bird to be called a 'turkey' was the Guinea fowl, an African bird that was domesticated and eventually made its way to England through trade routes that pass through Turkey. Because the birds seem to have originated in Turkey, they were called 'Turkey fowl', a name that was later shortened to 'turkey'. When English ships began direct trade with Africa, and they imported these same birds from the African country of Guinea, the bird once known as 'turkey' became better known as the 'Guinea fowl'. The English may also have thought the American turkey had come from Turkey, or perhaps the name 'turkey' had become a generic name for any large farmyard bird. At any rate, by 1600, the transition was complete: the birds from Africa were known as 'Guinea fowl' and those birds that had come from the Aztecs of Mexico were known as 'turkeys'.
- Scope and Content:
- Source: Turkeys 5
Length of Segment: 00:00:53
Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Male and female turkeys gather in separate flocks to spend fall and winter feeding on nuts and berries. By early spring, males quarrel and stake out territories for courting. In early morning, almost any loud sound, even a car door slamming, can trigger a round of gobbling. When one gobbler hears another, they volley back and forth, vying for the last word and any hens in the area. Perhaps our phrase, “Let's talk turkey” is related to this exchange between competing males, being reminiscent of the haggling over a price that was common in early marketplaces. Or perhaps it relates to the singularity of purpose a gobbler has when the mating season comes. When a turkey gobbles, his hens and rivals know he means business.
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- Resource Identifier:
- FI00900181
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