Turkey (bird)

A turkey is a large bird in the genus Meleagris. One species, Meleagris gallopavo (commonly known as the Wild Turkey) is native to the forests of North America. The domestic turkey is a descendant of this species. The other living species is Meleagris ocellata or the Ocellated Turkey, native to the forests of the Yucatán Peninsula.

Turkeys are classed in the taxonomic order of Galliformes. Within this order they are relatives of the grouse family or subfamily. Males of both species have a distinctive fleshy wattle or protuberance that hangs from the top of the beak (called a snood in the Wild Turkey and its domestic descendants). They are among the largest birds in their ranges. As in many galliformes, the male (tom or gobbler) is larger and much more colorful than the female (hen). Genus Meleagris is the only genus in the subfamily Meleagridinae, formerly known as the family Meleagrididae, but now subsumed within the family Phasianidae.

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