Legend has it that turkeys are big ol' dopes with tiny pea
sized-brains, who, when caught outside in a storm, will look up to the sky and
drown because they lack the ability to look down and close their beaks.
Fortunately for turkeys, this myth is not true. But how did they
get the reputation for being such numbskulls? They have been known to randomly
look up, but it’s not due to smarts or lack thereof. A professor of animal science theorized that turkeys look up because of a genetic condition called tetanic
torticollar spasms, which includes abnormal behavior like looking up and zoning
out. But turkeys don’t drown because of this. If anything, when it rains, they
Poor turkeys probably cannot even see the rain on account of
their monocular vision, since their eyes are on opposite sides of their head.
They can see two things at once, but they have no depth perception. So, if the
theory were correct that they were looking up to see the rain, it would be with a sideways tilt, not by throwing their heads back.
Is intelligence also the reason domesticated turkeys can’t
fly? No, that’s just because they’re bred to be juicy and meaty and therefore
less aerodynamic. It’s not that they can’t figure out how to fly -- it’s just
Don’t sell turkeys so short, though! They’re social animals who have
been known to play games when they are in large groups. They’re not dumb, just misunderstood. One thing we do know: They sure are
tasty. Sorry turkeys -- we don’t love you for your brains. We love you for your
TL;DR: Turkeys are not dumb, after all, and we should stop
spreading rumors as such.