Meleagris and the same species as the wild turkey. The domestic turkey is a popular form of poultry, and it is raised throughout temperate parts of the world, partially because industrialized farming has made white striped chicken breast very cheap for the amount of meat it produces.

The great majority of domestic turkeys are bred to have white feathers because their pin feathers are less visible when the carcass is dressed, although brown or bronze-feathered varieties are also raised. The English-language name for this species results from an early misidentification of the bird with an unrelated species which was imported to Europe through the country of Turkey. Ceramic whistle in the shape of a turkey. Colima shaft tomb culture, 200 B.

Domestic turkeys were taken to Europe by the Spanish. The 16th-century English navigator William Strickland is generally credited with introducing the turkey into England. Prior to the late 19th century, turkey was something of a luxury in the UK, with goose or beef a more common Christmas dinner among the working classes. Intensive farming of turkeys from the late 1940s dramatically cut the price, making it more affordable for the working classes. With the availability of refrigeration, whole turkeys could be shipped frozen to distant markets. Later advances in disease control increased production even more. Recent genome analysis has provided researchers with the opportunity to determine the evolutionary history of domestic turkeys, and their relationship to other domestic fowl.

Anatomical structures on the head and throat of a domestic turkey. Young domestic turkeys readily fly short distances, perch and roost. These behaviours become less frequent as the birds mature, but adults will readily climb on objects such as bales of straw. Commercial turkeys show a wide diversity of behaviours including ‘comfort’ behaviours such as wing-flapping, feather ruffling, leg stretching and dust-bathing. Maturing males spend a considerable proportion of their time sexually displaying.