Meleagris (genus) en

Members of a genus containing two living species of large North American birds having a distinctive fleshy wattle that hangs from the underside of the beak, and a fleshy protuberance that hangs from the top of its beak called a snood. It prefers woodlands near water, eating seeds, insects, and an occasional frog or lizard. When alarmed it may run rapidly to cover, but it can fly strongly for only short distances. Turkeys were first domesticated for their feathers and meat in Pre-Columbian Mexico; they were introduced to Europe, and are now valued as a table fowl in numerous countries.