THANKSGIVING TURKEYS
Thursday, November 28th, is the Thanksgiving celebration here in America. Thanksgiving is a very traditional holiday where Americans say "thank you" for the good luck and blessings they have. Most Americans will celebrate by visiting relatives and eating special foods. It is our tradition to eat turkey on this holiday.
For many Japanese, this is not much of a treat - in fact, most Japanese probably don't like turkey too much. However it is a bird that is natural to America and has a long history here. So for this article, I will give you some important facts about turkeys.
Forty-five million (45,000,000) turkeys will be eaten over Thanksgiving.
Twenty-two million (22,000,000) will be eaten over Christmas.
Nineteen million (19,000,000) will be eaten in the spring holiday called Easter.
In America, there are wild turkeys and there are turkeys raised on farms.
Wild turkeys can fly, and can actually run very quickly.
Commercially raised turkeys are very slow and fat. They cannot fly and cannot run quickly. In fact, sometimes the turkeys are so fat, they fall over.
A baby turkey is called a "poult." (Birds that we eat, including turkey, chicken, and others are often called "poultry.")
A male turkey is called a "Tom" and a female is a "hen".
Turkeys can see very well and can hear very well.
A group of turkeys is called a "flock."
Turkey meat is popular here because it contains little fat or cholesterol. It is considered to be very healthy for the heart.
However, turkeys frequently die of heart attacks. Loud noises, such as airplanes taking off, will actually scare turkeys to death.
Male turkeys (Toms) have beards - these are black, hair-like feathers on their breasts. Females sometimes have beards too.
When turkeys become excited, the color of their heads will change.
Finally, a male turkey makes a sound we call a "gobble." Females make a clicking sound.
The word "turkey" is often a negative word. If something is bad, such as a movie, a cd or a book, we often call it a "turkey".
This is probably more information than you wanted to know about turkeys. When the United States was being created over 200 years ago, it was suggested that the turkey be named the official bird of America. Luckily, the bald eagle was chosen instead.
