Free Birds DVD: Save the Birds by Purchasing the DVD on February 4

Once a year turkeys steal the spotlight and get a ton of attention: as the centerpiece of your dining room table on Thanksgiving. Sure, there are also Presidential pardons (yes I know..really?), turkey sandwiches and a few other mentions of turkeys throughout the year, surely turkeys deserve a little more attention right?
As we anticipate the DVD release of Free Birds, about yes, saving the turkey, here are 10 fun facts about you guess it…not chicken. Turkey!
- Turkeys need to be trained to eat. In order for turkeys to reach their biggest size, they must be taught to eat small meals throughout the day, instead of their natural routine of consistently gorging themselves on food.
- A turkey’s snood (red thing attached to the beak) serves no functional purpose.
- A turkey’s gobble can be heard from a mile away. Talk about a loud mouth!
- Young turkeys are called “poults.”
- Turkeys were domesticated by Native Americans in pre-Columbian Mexico,
- more than 500 years ago. They arrived in Spain in 1519 and quickly spread to the rest of Europe.
- Turkeys prefer to sleep in trees. They do this as a way of avoiding predators in the wild.
- Female turkeys (hens) do not gobble. Instead, they communicate through low-chirps and clicking noises.
- Wild turkeys can fly. They are actually quite fast, reaching speeds as fast as 55mph.
- Turkeys can blush. This usually takes place when they are frightened, agitated, excited, or ill. And here we thought they were just bashful!
- A turkey’s stomach has a container called the gizzard. It contains small stones the turkey has swallowed which help aid with breaking down food for digestion, since the birds do not have teeth.
About Free Birds:
From the Academy Award®-Winning producer of Shrek* comes a hilarious animated adventure about two turkeys from opposite sides of the tracks who travel back in time in order to keep their species off the Thanksgiving menu. Featuring an all-star voice cast, including Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson and Amy Poehler, Free Birds is loaded with laughs and stuffed with fun for the whole family!