The turkey is a large bird in the genus Meleagris, native to North America. There are two extant turkey species: the wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) of eastern and central North America and the ocellated turkey (Meleagris ocellata) of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Males of both turkey species have a distinctive fleshy wattle, called a snood, hanging from the beak's top. They are among the largest birds in their ranges. As with many large ground-feeding birds (order Galliformes), the male is bigger and much more colorful than the female.

Meat and Poultry

Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Poultry is domesticated birds kept by humans for the eggs they produce, their meat, their feathers, or sometimes as pets.

Humans are omnivorous and have hunted and killed animals for meat since prehistoric times. The advent of civilization allowed the domestication of animals such as chickens, sheep, pigs, and cattle, and eventually their use in meat production on an industrial scale.