TURKEYS

The turkey family, Meleagrididae, consists of but two species, both of which occur in Mexico. One is the common wild turkey, form which the domestic bird was derived. Its native range includes northern Mexico and most of the United States. The other, the ocellated turkey, occurs only in southeastern Mexico and adjoining parts of Guatemala and British Honduras. The family, the, is strictly North American.

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The turkey was domesticated in Mexico some time before the Conquest. It is the one and only important domestic animal of North American origin. When the Spanish arrived, they found barnyard turkeys in the possession of Indians in all parts of Mexico and even in Central America. However, the Aztecs and the Tarascans, originating in west-central Mexico, seemed to have achieved the highest development of turkey culture, and it is probable that turkeys were domesticated in the western highlands, perhaps in Michoacán. Nelson (1904) was of this opinion and I concur with it. Wild turkeys of that region are morphologically very similar to the primitive domestic bronze type. Both the Aztecs and Tarascans kept great numbers of the birds, including even white ones. They paid royal tribute to their respective kings in turkeys, according to the Relación de Mechoacán. The Tarascan king fed turkeys to the hawks and eagles in his zoo. The whole economy of these highland tribes was based on the cultivation of corn and the raising of turkeys. The Spanish exported the domestic turkey to Europe and form there it has spread over the world.