I think I'd be embarrassed if I lived in a country where the turkey was the "national bird"... How about you?

Benny... Why? Why a turkey? ... Why?

i'm embarrassed enough just by looking at our president. D:

Um, no. I don't see why the "national" anything is a source of embarrassment. Besides, the turkey is a fine bird, as good as any other. (And apparently better at survival than the average raptor.) Granted, not a flesh-eater if that's your criteria for a good symbol or mascot.

If anything was going to cause national embarrassment, I'm sure I can name a dozen things right off the top of my head. -- And none of them involve (actual feathered) turkeys.

I wouldn't say embarrass but it be ironic of our national bird was a turkey... Not only do we see it as food but it the bird we salute... now pass the leg.

My mom taught high school biology. She had a lot of stuffed (you know, as in taxidermy) animals around her classroom including this really impressive looking turkey. She put that particular bird on a shelf directly under the American flag. Told me it was her nod to ol' Ben.

Really does she still have that bird?

Nah. She retired. Left most of her little museum to the next teacher.

I dunno about that. It would probably fit even more than the bald eagle since we don't really eat those(or have the legality to). It'd be awesome if America's most treasured and revered things we could actually touch without being shot or arrested by a man in uniform.

i say we make our national bird the phoenix.

I don't think I have anything to say on this subject, as I'm Dutch, but as far as national symbols go, I'd rather have an eagle than a turkey. But that's just me. Eagles rock.

The reason why benjamin franklin wanted the turkey as their national bird was because the turkey works for it's food. The bald eagle wrongly steals it's food...

I never knew that. But, considering the current state of the US, I'd say the eagle suits it just fine.

Funny though, that at first choosing a turkey seems like a dumb idea, but when you look at the reasons, it actually makes sense. Or at least it did, back in those days...

lol it does... I learned that only a couple weeks ago too.

And so, you pass on your knowledge onto another person. Is there a bird that does that?

Also, what kinda bugs me, if the turkey had become America's national symbol, would people eat eagles on Thanksgiving? I mean, doesn't it seem kinda silly to eat the very thing that represents your nation? A weird form of cannibalism, perhaps?

I guess Australia's national bird is the emu (pronounced eamyou, not emoo, by the way)
It should probably be the kookaburra 'cause it laughs at everybody and everything. (A very Australian trait)
We do, however have an eagle that makes the bald-headed eagle look like a wimp... it has the largest wing span of any eagle.

Persoanlly, I like crows, they are extremely intelligent, can count, and are very protective over their families.

A couple of years ago we picked up a fledgling crow that wa caught in some long grass and took it home to care for it.

Then we noticed an enormous ruckus outside and saw this one big crow constantly flying in circles ovver our house. Our house was in the 'bachelor' gang's territory so about 15 other crows were constantly attacking this one big crow... feathers were missing from is wings and it was copping a hiding, but refused to fly away.

We realised it must be 'Dad' so we took the young crow back to where we found it and sure enough, Dad followed. It took some coaxing but eventually the young one flew back into the air and followed Dad back to the nest.

Thw whole time 'Mum' had been circling high above, out of immediate danger while Dad risked his neck to recover his kid... Amazing stuff.

....
......
OK, that's the last straw, I'm moving to Australia as soon as I possibly can.

So how many of them are Jive Turkeys?

Best country in the world, mate... that is, if you like beer and wildlife/scenery that was designed by Salvadore Dali on acid.

Don't worry about the snakes though (we have the world's top five most poisonous). Most newcomers freak out a bit over them without realising there is nothing to worry about... (most of them have been killed by the spiders).

That sounds... oddly familiar...

Hey, another Terry Pratchett fan?

ooo, excellent. i didn't even think of the crow. it would be a super suave national bird.

Ive had emu meat before. mmmm, tasty stuff!

why a pheonix?

If the nation bird was the turkey we would just have to eat bald eagle.

cuz they don't exist, therefore our country would be based on IMAGINATION sparkle sparkle

Oh I get it if one dreams dies another gets reborn.

yeah, that's good. let's go with that. xD

Haha. I just finished that reading that book a few days, as a matter of fact.

Which would be fine, except the cold bald eagle sandwiches the next day are pretty nasty!