Turkey in the... Straw?

My wife called me from downstairs, "Bob, come see what is in the front yard!"  Images ran through my mind in that split second: Elvis? Aliens? Grizzly bears?  Honest politicians?

I ran to the living room and looked outside.  There was a turkey hen wallowing in the grass, probably to get rid of mites.  She put on quite a show for us, staying about 30 minutes.  I got some pretty decent pictures, even though it was through the window glass.

The American turkey, Meleagris gallopavo, is a uniquely American bird.  Wikipedia says that when the Europeans first saw them in the New world, they noticed that they resembled a kind of guinea fowl, also known as turkey fowl that they were familiar with.  They were known as "turkey fowl" because they were from Turkey.  Later the "fowl" was dropped and the American turkey became just "turkey."

We all know the story about  Ben Franklin wanting the American turkey to be our national bird, and I can understand why: they are native to America; they are a beautiful bird with the males having the colors, red, white, and blue on the head and neck. In addition, the males and young males, called "jakes" have a strand of feathers hanging down from their breasts called its "beard."  Finally, they are a very intelligent bird, not like the domestic ones which have been bred to be fat and stupid.

Anyone, including myself, who has ever turkey hunted knows how hard they are to kill.  Game laws require that only the toms can be hunted, by calling like a hen during mating season, convincing them that a hen is interested.  In nature it is the hen which goes to the gobbling tom.  Wild turkeys have excellent eyesight, are able to see colors, have great hearing, and are smart.  In addition, they are graceful, terrific flyers able to get off the ground without running, as many large birds must do. Like Ben, I believe the wild turkey should be our national bird.