Why isn’t the turkey our national bird?

Does this guy look vain to you? Source

It’s turkey season. Yesterday I saw flocks of turkeys in two separate fields as I drove near the Chattooga River, and the day before that I had to shoo a small flock of four out of our yard and back into the woods.

Why scare away the turkeys? Well, turkey poop is an incredibly potent attractant that my dog believes to be the gluey, putrid perfume he was always meant to wear. That stuff is RANK and does not wash out easily.

So, I try to keep them out of the yard, but don’t mind at all if I spot them in the woods while riding or walking our trails. They are such huge birds, and don’t look like they should be able to fly. But I can testify that, if startled, they will take off like cannonballs soaring through the treetops.

In honor of our upcoming American Thanksgiving holiday, during which we eat tons of turkeys, I thought I’d explore a little history (and science) about these large, lumbering birds. I’ve heard a story that someone – Ben Franklin? Thomas Jefferson? – proposed the turkey should be our national bird rather than the bald eagle, so I decided to investigate.

Why isn’t the turkey our national bird?

I discovered that it was Benjamin Franklin who supposedly preferred the turkey, but the idea that he wanted it to be our national bird turns out to be a misunderstanding and a myth. The story stemmed from a 1784 letter he wrote his daughter in which he criticized the choice of the Bald Eagle as being America’s representative. An eagle, he said, is, “a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly…[he] is too lazy to fish for himself.”

Sneaky, lazy… bad moral character? Source

Ol’ Ben isn’t wrong about that. Eagles are known to steal from other birds of prey as well as from killer whales, porpoises and, as seen above, other land predators. This form of surviving is known as kleptoparasitism and isn’t that rare in the animal kingdom. Even humans are known to scare lions off a kill in order to harvest it themselves. As to the eagles’ “bad moral Character,” I’ll leave that up to you, but perhaps it’s simply an adaptive behavior – a crime of opportunity, so to speak.

Ben Franklin didn’t argue for a turkey to replace the eagle – he simply compared the so-called inferior eagle to the more majestic turkey saying the turkey is, “a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America...He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage.”

Are turkeys vain? This probably stemmed from their tendency to strut about, tail feathers on full display, during mating season. If trying to find a mate by wearing flashy clothing is vain, I guess we’re all guilty. But it does seem to be true that turkeys are courageous. When threatened, they will chase down the attacker, as hilariously demonstrated by this neighborhood turkey who resented a reporter asking pesky questions: 

Turkeys are actually pretty smart, contrary to popular belief. They form complex social groups with hierarchical structures that gave us the idiomatic phrase “pecking order.” Turkeys have incredible memories and have been known to return to baiting stations one full year after feeding there. Despite old adages to the contrary, no turkey has ever been observed to drown by looking up into the rain…

Benjamin Franklin was, perhaps, a bit miffed that his proposal for the Great Seal of America to include Moses parting the Red Sea was not accepted and instead, six years later, Charles Thomson’s design with a bald eagle was instead approved.

There’s a lot going on in Ben’s version on the left – perhaps it was rejected because it was too much for printers to handle? Source

Franklin’s criticism of the eagle wasn’t based on the Great Seal, however. The letter to his daughter was panning a certificate created by the Society of the Cincinnati, an association of Continental Army veterans. The Society’s certificate contained a rendering of the new eagle Great Seal that Franklin felt looked like a turkey:

Seal art from this source

Franklin’s full quote says:

"Others object to the Bald Eagle, as looking too much like a Dindon, or Turkey. For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen as the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perch'd on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him. With all this Injustice, he is never in good Case but like those among Men who live by Sharping and Robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District. He is therefore by no means a proper Emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our Country, tho' exactly fit for that Order of Knights which the French call Chevaliers d'Industrie. I am on this account not displeas'd that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For in Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America. Eagles have been found in all Countries, but the Turkey was peculiar to ours, the first of the Species seen in Europe being brought to France by the Jesuits from Canada, and serv'd up at the Wedding Table of Charles the ninth. He is besides, tho' a little vain and silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on."

Franklin’s statement disparaging the eagle and preferring the turkey was actually a pointed joke meant to criticize the Society of the Cincinnati due to its membership being hereditary, which he and others felt to be un-American. After having fought a war with the British monarchy, Franklin was understandably not impressed by the idea of a society which passed down memberships to their offspring rather than having them earn it.

This is why he refers to the “king bird” in his letter – in this case, he’s referring to Eastern Kingbirds, who are known as “tyrants of the air” and will boldly chase off much larger birds of prey. Again, having just defeated King George, the idea a bald eagle being easily scared off by a “king bird” was not the look Franklin felt America should be going for.

Source – Eastern Kingbird attacking an osprey

Turnabout is fair play for the food-stealing eagle, amiright?

The turkey was never under any real consideration to be our national bird. Even Ben Franklin wasn’t proposing that – he just wasn’t a fan of the bald eagle representing us.

Interestingly, Franklin was also a fan of turkeys for another reason. In his famed experiments with electricity, he often used turkeys as his experimental subjects, killing the birds with an electrical charge. “Birds kill'd in this Manner eat uncommonly tender," he stated.

I suppose that’s something we can all agree on.

My school is still collecting books for elementary aged children affected by the flooding in Western North Carolina. So far we have had over 100 books donated! We need 450 to give every student at the elementary in Swannanoa their own book. If you’re interested in helping out, please order a book from our Amazon wish list using the QR code below and it will be sent directly to our school. We’ll have our students write an encouraging note for the future recipient in it. THANK YOU to those of you who have already donated!

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Weird Nature

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