All Things Bird

My favorite birds are the bright yellow tiny finches that visit my back yard thistle feeder.  Several times I've seen a dark-red finch.  Last summer I saw a lone hummingbird in my mimosa tree, sampling the pink fluff blooms.  In this next National Geographic Magazine article of March, 1930, "Fowls of Forest and Stream Tamed by Man," the author, Morley A. Jull, Ph.D., describes the birds about which he will educate us: "Of the six groups of birds discussed in the article, there are three land birds - the turkey, peafowl, and guinea fowl - and three waterfowl - duck, goose, and swan" (p. 327).  I presently welcome a break from traveling!

The obvious differences between land birds and water birds are that land birds have beaks and claws for digging or plucking their food, while water birds have bills and webbed feet for swimming and scooping their food from in the water.

The Peafowl

Mr. Jull selects the peacock as the most beautiful and colorful land bird.  Few would disagree.  This bird originated "in the dry lower regions of India, Burma, Siam, Java, Ceylon, and the Malay Peninsula.  It has not migrated extensively. . .but thrives in many climes and in a variety of conditions" (p. 328).  Peacocks especially like to eat snakes!

"The early Christians adopted the peacock as a symbol of immortality" (p. 328).

Ducks

The next focus is ducks.  "For the most part, they are raised exclusively for their meat, but in recent years a certain amount of interest has centered on duck-egg production" (p. 328). My cousin, Martha, keeps a flock of ducks on her acreage here in Kentucky and shared their large eggs with me this past February.

Largest eggs are from Ducks, Smallest are from birds, with the medium chicken eggs for comparison.

The eggs, with their dark yellow yolks, made an extremely tasty breakfast!  My other cousin, Mary Jeanne, contributed her homemade jam - yum!

The cousins: (left) Mary Jeanne, Jan, and Martha, February, 2013.

Common ducks on Lake Cumberland, Kentucky, U.S.A., August, 2013.

FYI: "The large duck farms have pickers who devote their entire time to dressing birds during the marketing season.  They are highly proficient, the average worker being able to pick from 50 to 70 ducks in a day" (photo caption, p. 350).

Geese

Goose farming was a very important industry in Europe in 1930, with Germany having the honor of consuming per capita more goose meat, "than in any other country. . .If provided with an abundance of grass and water, geese require little else in the way of feed" (p. 350).

But the noble goose in more to us than meat!  "From time immemorial, the goose has been a generous benefactor of mankind, giving feathers to lie upon, quills with which to feather arrows,  pens to transfer man's thoughts to paper, flesh to sustain man's body, fattened livers for the epicurean, and fat to flavor the peasant's soup and for baking purposes" (p. 352).

FYI:  "Thomas Jefferson used a quill in writing the Declaration of Independence" (p. 353).

Turkeys

"The turkey is the only race of poultry that originated in the United States" yet "In 1518 there were "domesticated turkeys in great numbers" in Mexico (p. 365).  "The turkey is not a migratory bird in the sense that ducks and geese migrate hundreds of miles from the south to the north in the spring and return in the fall, much to the delight of thousands of hunters" (p. 367).

Steve and the Turkeys

My dear brother, Steve, and his wife, Pam, both now deceased, lived in central Wisconsin on a eleven-acre lot in a small town, Merrill.  There were woods on their property and numerous wild animals, including turkeys.  Steve and Pam's lower level family room had large glass sliding doors to the patio.  Steve was very proud because he had installed the doors himself.  As he related, one afternoon in November, Steve was watching TV upstairs and he heard the familiar 'peck-peck-peck' of the turkeys on the glass doors. This sound persisted so long that Steve feared the turkeys would break the glass on his new doors.  He went outside on the first-floor deck and hollered at the turkeys to no avail. So he brought out his shotgun, went out to the deck where he could see the turkeys still at work on his doors, and fired several warning shots "to scare them away."  

Please keep in mind that turkeys are protected species in the State of Wisconsin.  By chance, one of the turkeys got killed!  Well, Steve didn't mean to do it, so he just kept the turkey, dressed it, and had it on Thanksgiving.

One of his neighbors heard the commotion, came and watched, and reported Steve to the local Fish and Game commissioner.  In several months, much to his surprise, Steve received a bill for $127 for violating the statute.  He told Pam, "Well, that's the most expensive Thanksgiving Dinner we'll ever have!"

Wild Turkeys in Lake Cumberland State Park, Kentucky, August, 2013.

 FYI:  Turkeys used to be herded like cattle and then driven like cattle to the dressing plants.  "This practice is being discontinued, however, as the turkeys lose too much weight on long drives" (photo caption, p. 348).

Guinea Fowl

"Guinea fowls are bred in many countries and are highly prized for the delicate quality of their flesh" (p. 371).  They are not common in Kentucky; I don't recall ever seeing one, either wild or domesticated.

Swans

Swans are common around the country and world as beautiful, graceful, and decorative birds.  The white swans are tame and beg to be fed in lakes everywhere.

Part of my collection of Sea Birds and Ducks, on my kitchen table, August, 2013.  All my birds have since flown north to my upstairs office!

Mr. Jull kindly included detailed histories of all the above-mentioned birds with their many breeds.  He gave us an anatomical illustration of the birds with labeled parts.  If you are interested in reading this history, including a photo of the proper way to carry a live turkey, please see National Geographic Magazine, March 1930.