Redditors Share Funny Names They Have For Turkey Birds In Different Countries, All Created To Avoid Confusing The Name With The Country (Now Turkiye)

by Maryjane

Native to North America, the turkey is a large bird in the genus Meleagris. The wild turkey of eastern and central North America and the ocellated turkey of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico are the two remaining species of turkey.

Despite being a native of North America, the turkey most likely gained its name from the domesticated type that was brought to Britain by ships sailing through Spain from the Levant. Due to this association between the bird and Turkey among the British at the time, the name stuck.

An alternative explanation claims that a different bird, a guinea fowl native to Madagascar that was brought to England by Turkish traders, was the initial source and that English settlers with knowledge of the earlier species later applied the term to the New World bird. Over 20 million years ago, the earliest turkeys emerged in North America.

Other European names for turkeys also suggest an Indian ancestry, such as dinde (from India), индкa (indyushka, "bird of India"), indyk (Polish and Ukrainian), and hindi (Turkish). These are said to be the results of Christopher Columbus' alleged conviction that he had arrived in India during his trip rather than the Americas.

Turkeys are known as Perus in Portuguese; Peru is assumed to be the source of the name.

More Info: Reddit, Wikipedia

Meet u/yesboss2000, a Redditor who has this interesting piece of information to share with the TodayILearned subreddit group

u/yesboss2000

Everyone was being confused as to where this bird came from in the days of the New World

Wikipedia

The turkey, which was domesticated about 2,000 years ago, is descended from the wild turkey species. They have a recent common ancestor with other birds like grouse and pheasants.

Here are what Redditors had to say about this information:

Really?

A mysterious like bird having a mysterious origin

In this Redditor's country, it's called pabo

This Redditor says that it's called Peru in Portuguese

The first Indian tourist to see slices of Hindi in Turkey

This Redditor says that it's called Turkey in Western Canada

This Redditor says that it's called donde in French

This Redditor chooses to say Jupiter and that's all

This Redditor says that it's called Peru in Brazil

This Redditor is asking why it's not called American

Here, it's all about Brazil nuts

This Redditor says that turkey is not derived from a place or country

This Redditor also says that it's called donde in French

This Redditor says that it's called Ayam Belanda in Malay

For a while, they were the same thing

This Redditor says that it's called Truthuhn in German

This Redditor says they should have gone with gobble-pigeon

Confusing it with the guinea fowl

This Redditor says that it's called Kalkun in Denmark

Check this one out

Other birds that are occasionally referred to as turkeys include brush turkeys, megapodes, and the species also known as the Australian turkey but actually the Australian bustard. Depending on how its tail looks when its feathers are spread wide for drying, the anhinga is sometimes referred to as the "water turkey."

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