Turkeys

Turkeys

Turkeys
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 4 to 7
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	8.55

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		anecdote, behalf, domestic, extinction, gobblers, reintroduced, commercial, mating, commonly, naked, contrast, responsibility, running, heavily, native, actually
	content words:		North America, National Wild Turkey Federation, United States, Benjamin Franklin, Founding Fathers, Turkish Empire

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Other Languages
French: Les Dindes
Spanish: Los Pavos

Turkeys

¹     Turkeys are one of the few birds native to North America. They are also the largest game birds in this part of the world. Game birds are commonly referred to as birds that are hunted for sport. Pheasants, ducks, and quails are other examples of game birds. Turkeys were nearly hunted to extinction by the early 1900s, until the National Wild Turkey Federation intervened and successfully reintroduced them into the wild. Today, there are about 5.6 million wild turkeys roaming around open woodland areas from Canada to Mexico.

²     It is unlikely that one could confuse turkeys with other birds, because turkeys have several easy-to-spot features - their heads and necks are nearly naked; they can raise their tail feathers to form a vertical fan; male turkeys have long wattles at the base of their bills and at their throats. Turkeys are also known to have "beards" on their chests. These "beards" are actually feathers, not hairs.

³     Turkeys can be roughly divided into two groups - domestic and wild turkeys. Domestic turkeys are much bigger than their wild cousins. Domestic turkeys, raised for commercial purposes, are so heavy that they have lost their flight ability. In contrast, wild turkeys can fly and run well - wild turkeys are capable of flying for short distances at 55 miles per hour and running at 25 miles per hour.

Paragraphs 4 to 6:
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