This weekend marks Thanksgiving but how much do you know about the turkey?

The Nature Conservancy of Canada says that the humble turkey has become so common this time of year we rarely think of its beginnings.

B次元官网网址淭he shining star of Thanksgiving spreads, this native North American gobbler wasnB次元官网网址檛 always in abundance,B次元官网网址� the group said in a statement.

B次元官网网址淚n the early 1900s, wild turkeys had all but disappeared from some parts of Canada due to unregulated logging and hunting.B次元官网网址�

Today, wild turkeys are found in seven Canadian provinces: New Brunswick, southern Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba, southeast Saskatchewan, southwest Alberta and B.C.B次元官网网址檚 southern interior.

Here are 10 other fun facts:

1. Male wild turkeys are called B次元官网网址渢oms,B次元官网网址� while females are called B次元官网网址渉ens.B次元官网网址�
2. At the start of spring, male wild turkeys get together in clearings to perform courtship displays. They puff up their feathers, lower their wings, fan out their tails and slowly strut, while making their famous gobble sounds.
3. Believe it or not, wild turkeys can fly. At nighttime, they fly up into trees to roost.
4. Wild turkeys were extirpated (locally extinct) from Ontario as a result of habitat loss and over-hunting. Reintroduction efforts began in 1984. Turkeys are now a common sight in these province. and they are continuing to expand their range.
5. An adult turkey can have more than 6,000 feathers.
6. In 2019, the New Brunswick Bird Records Committee added wild turkeys to the provinceB次元官网网址檚 official bird list. The province has an established population of approximately 5,000 wild turkeys, many concentrated close to communities along the Canada-United States border.
7. Wild turkeys mostly inhabit forests but often wander into open fields and grasslands to feed, nest and reproduce successfully.
8. Wild turkeys are not fussy eaters. They feed on seeds, hazelnuts, oak nuts, hickory nuts, beech nuts, acorns, apples, fruit, snails, worms and amphibians all year long.
9. Wild turkeys can run at speeds of up to 19 km/hr
10. Certain characteristics of wild turkey droppings, such as their shape and size, reveal the turkeyB次元官网网址檚 gender and age. Female droppings are spiral shaped, while male droppings are J-shaped. The larger the diameter, the older the bird.

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