4. The French thought that turkeys originally came from India, which is why they still call it dinde, as in d’Inde, meaning ‘from India’ in France.
5. The correct collective noun for a group of turkeys is a rafter.
6. More turkey is eaten per head of population in Israel than any other country.
7. The red flesh on a turkey’s beak is the snood, the pink growth on its neck is the caruncle.
8. Only male turkeys make a gobbling sound. That is why males are gobblers, females are hens.
9. Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part One includes the line “The turkeys in my pannier are quite starved,” but the play is set before Britain had any turkeys.
10. There are approximately 5,500 feathers on an adult wild turkey including 18 on the tail.
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