“Whoa! What just zoomed past at 55 miles per hour? It sure didn’t look like a car.”

“That’s because it was a wild turkey, you turkey!”

Turkeys can fly like the wind. But they never do it for long. Wild turkeys can run fast too—25 miles per hour. Domesticated turkeys (the kind you’ll find on a farm and in the grocery store) are quite different. They are bred to be hefty. A heavier bird means more meat on your plate and more money for a farmer.

Did you know . . .

Turkeys are like dogs. We don’t mean they have bad breath and want to sleep in your bed. We mean they are smart animals. They’re sensitive. They can make long-lasting friendships with other turkeys and can seem affectionate with each other.

Male turkeys (gobblers) have beautiful feathers. These guys taste great with dressing. But they’re also fancy dressers. Their feathers have patches of red, purple, green, copper, bronze, and gold. Female feathers are plain-Jane brown and gray.

Turkeys can’t hide their feelings. Want to know how a turkey feels about you? An excited male turkey’s head turns blue. But if you see him turning red, you know he’s ready for a fight.

The name turkey actually comes from the country of Turkey. It can be hard to talk about the country of Turkey without thinking about a turkey sandwich. But the name of the country, not the bird, came first. Europeans who came to America thought turkeys were a different bird—the guinea fowl, which was also called a turkey fowl in Europe because it came there from the country of Turkey.

Turkeys have lots of names. A poult is a baby turkey. Slightly older turkeys get first names: jennies and jakes. Grownup turkeys are hens and toms.