Phasianinae Skull Replica or Turkey measures 4.3 inches, museum quality polyurethane resin. Phasianinae Skull Replica is 2-part skull (separate cranium and jaw). Made in USA.
The Phasianinae or Turkey is a large bird in the genus Meleagris, native to North America.
The wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) of eastern and central North America can be found in the forests of North America, from Mexico (where they were first domesticated in Mesoamerica) throughout the midwestern and eastern United States and into southeastern Canada.
Though domestic turkeys are considered flightless, wild turkeys can and do fly for short distances. Turkeys are best adapted for walking and foraging; they do not fly as a normal means of travel.
When faced with a perceived danger, wild turkeys can fly up to a quarter mile. Turkeys may also make short flights to assist roosting in a tree.
Phasianinae or male Turkey’s have a distinctive fleshy wattle, called a snood, that hangs from the top of the beak. In anatomical terms, a snood is an erectile, fleshy protuberance on the forehead of turkeys.
Most of the time when the turkey is in a relaxed state, the snood is pale and 2 to 3 cm long.
When the male begins strutting (the courtship display), the snood engorges with blood, becomes redder and elongates several centimeters, hanging well below the beak. Soods are just one of the caruncles (small, fleshy excrescences) that can be found on turkeys.
The species Meleagris gallopavo is eaten by humans. They were first domesticated by the indigenous people of Mexico from at least 800 BC onwards.
Turkeys were used both as a food source and for their feathers and bones, which were used in both practical and cultural contexts. Compared to wild turkeys, domestic turkeys are selectively bred to grow larger in size for their meat.
Phasianinae or Wild turkeys feed on various wildlife, depending on the season. In the warmer months of spring and summer, their diet consists mainly of grains such as wheat, corn, and of smaller animals such as grasshoppers, spiders, worms, and, lizards.
In the colder months of fall and winter, wild turkeys consume smaller fruits and nuts such as grapes, blueberries, acorns, and walnuts.
To find this food, they have to continuously forage and feed most during the sunrise and sunset hours.
Domesticated turkeys consume a commercially produced feed formulated to increase the size of the turkeys. To supplement their nutrition, farmers will also feed them grains wild turkeys eat such as corn.
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.
Phasianinae or Turkeys participate in a number of grooming behaviors including: dusting, sunning, and feather preening.
In dusting, turkeys get low on their stomach or side and flap their wings, coating themselves with dirt. This action serves to remove debris build-up on the feathers and also clog tiny pores that parasites such as lice can inhabit.
Sunning for Phasianinae or turkeys involves bathing in the sunlight, for their top and bottom halves. This can serve to liquidate the oil that turkeys naturally produce, spreading over their feathers and dry their feathers from precipitation at the same time.
In feather preening, turkeys are able to remove dirt and bacteria, while also ensuring that non-durable feathers are removed.
Turkeys are classed in the family Phasianidae (pheasants, partridges, francolins, junglefowl, grouse, and relatives thereof) in the taxonomic order Galliformes.
They are close relatives of the grouse and are classified alongside them in the tribe Tetraonini.