43
Stadium kindergartners talk turkey
Photo
Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Boardman Park environmental educator Karen McCallum (standing) visited Stadium Drive kindergartners on Nov. 14 to teach the students about turkeys. McCallum explained how male turkeys fluff up their feathers and strut to attract attention, and proceeded to act out the strutting she mentioned.
By SARAH FOOR
To let the kindergartners of Stadium Drive learn about everyone’s favorite bird of the holidays, the turkey, Boardman Park’s Karen McCallum explored the animal from beak to claws.
In a Nov. 15 visit to the school, McCallum brought along a realistic life-sized turkey as well various feathers from the wings, tail and body of the bird.
“I always like to tell students about animals that live in our area. You can see wild turkeys at Boardman Park and Mill Creek Park, where they usually travel in the morning in groups,” McCallum explained to the students.
McCallum explained that Ben Franklin wanted the turkey to be America’s national bird of freedom, although eventually, the eagle became our country’s symbolic bird.
Nonetheless, McCallum argued that turkeys are interesting and unique birds that are worth learning about further.
The educator explained how male turkeys fluff up their feathers and strut to impress potential mates and she even demonstrated a strut for the kindergartners.
McCallum said turkeys have been used as a food source for many centuries, but their feathers are very useful, having been transformed into quill pens for early settlers and used as decoration by Indian tribes.
McCallum asked the students to look for wild turkeys in our area and taught them to tell the difference between male and female birds.
“The fancy turkeys with the colorful tails are the boys. But if you’d like other ways to tell, boy feathers have black tips, while girl feathers have brown tips. If you listen closely, male turkeys will gobble and females will cluck. If you ever find turkeys in your explorations, I want you to try and guess with what you’ve learned,” McCallum said.