Benjamin Franklin: America’s bird should be the wild turkey

Benjamin Franklin wanted the wild turkey to be the national bird. Below is the letter he wrote to his daughter defending his feelings on why the eagle is unfit to be the national bird and the wild turkey would be perfect.

What Ben Franklin said in a letter to his daughter,

For my own part, I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the representative of our country. He is a bird of bad moral character. He does not get his living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead tree near the river, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labour of the fishing hawk; and when that diligent bird has at length taken a fish and is bearing it to his nest for the support of his mate and young ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him.

With all this injustice, he is never in good case, but, like those among men who live by sharping and robbing, he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides, he is a rank coward: the little king bird not bigger than a sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the district. He is therefore by no means a proper emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the king birds from our country....

I am on this account not displeased that the figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a turkey. For the truth the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America... he is besides, though a little vain & silly, a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British guards who should presume to invade his farm yard with a red coat on.

The letter is courtesy of www.clickondetroit.com/sh/holidays/stories/holidays-20001113-13 5438.html

Student and turkey grower respond to Franklin's letter

Warren Bailey, a former turkey grower and feed superintendent at the Moroni Feed Co-op, said he could understand why Franklin thought the wild turkey would be an excellent national bird.

"Well, what they say is that the wild turkey is a very smart and cunning bird; domestic turkeys aren't anything like that. There's differences between domestic turkeys and wild turkeys. Domestic turkeys can't even fly over the fence, " Bailey said. "If they can find a way to voluntarily die, they'll do it."

Weber State University senior, Spencer Heath, said that the eagle is the right choice for the national bird.

"I think that if we had the wild turkey as our national bird, people would think less of the United States. They'd think of us being an overweight , awkward country," Heath said. "I think the eagle much better represents the strength of the U.S."

Bailey said that wild turkeys were probably a lot more useful then because their feathers were used on arrows and for other uses.

"The eagle is just a predator," he said.