Admin Table of Contents
When was the first turkey discovered?
Which came first—the Pilgrim or the turkey? Wild turkeys were probably first domesticated by native Mexicans. Spaniards brought tame Mexican turkeys to Europe in 1519, and they reached England by 1524. The Pilgrims actually brought several turkeys to America on the voyage in 1620.
What did a turkey evolve from?
Turkeys evolved from earlier birds. The ancestors of the turkey evolved about 100 million years ago, from the dinosaurs that were alive at that time.
Where did the turkey bird originated from?
Domestic turkeys come from the Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), a species that is native only to the Americas. In the 1500s, Spanish traders brought some that had been domesticated by indigenous Americans to Europe and Asia.
When did turkeys almost go extinct?
By the time Thanksgiving became an official U.S. holiday in 1863, wild turkeys had nearly disappeared. But Depression-era shifts in land use helped the animals rebound. Before European settlers arrived in North America, there were millions of wild turkeys spread across what are now 39 U.S. states.
What state are turkeys native to?
Native from the central valleys to the northern mountains of Mexico and the southernmost parts of Arizona and New Mexico. Gould’s wild turkeys are heavily protected and regulated. The subspecies was first described in 1856. They exist in small numbers in the U.S. but are abundant in northwestern portions of Mexico.
Did turkeys live 10 million years ago?
That coupled with fossil data and estimated divergence times indicates that birds ancestral to the turkeys and grouse probably migrated to the Americas about 20 million years ago, and members of the turkey clade were around ten million years ago.
Which states are turkeys native to?
How many turkeys are left?
When the National Wild Turkey Federation was founded in 1973, there were approximately 1.5 million wild turkeys in North America. After 40 years of effort, that number has reached a historic high of about 6.7 million turkeys. But, today turkey numbers are down and are estimated at between 6 and 6.2 million birds.
What is the biggest turkey ever killed?
37.6 pounds
— The National Wild Turkey Federation has certified the largest turkey killed on record. The gobbler, 37.6 pounds, was shot with a firearm by David Guess of Lyon County, Kentucky, on April 21. The previous record turkey, 37.1 pounds, was killed in 2002 in Oregon.