S8 Ep1124: The Legends of the Wild Turkey and the Imperial Eagle Guest: Stephen Moss Book Title: Ten Birds That Changed the World Stephen Moss discusses the wild turkey, a bird rediscovered by Europeans in the Americas that was vital to the survival of the pilgrims.

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John Batchelor

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🗓️ 13 July 2026

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

The Legends of the Wild Turkey and the Imperial Eagle Guest: Stephen Moss Book Title: Ten Birds That Changed the World Stephen Moss discusses the wild turkey, a bird rediscovered by Europeans in the Americas that was vital to the survival of the pilgrims. Moss argues that the turkey's plumpness and taste led to its domestication from a single line in southern Mexico, where it was originally worshipped by Central American civilizations. Interestingly, its name stems from 16th-century confusion where exotic items were often attributed to Turkish merchants. Beyond the turkey, the conversation explores the symbolic power of the eagle. While the turkey is a "smart" bird favored by Benjamin Franklin, the eagle became a definitive symbol of predatory power for the Romans and later the Nazis, who famously altered its depiction to look toward Russia. Despite the eagle's associations with conquest, it remains a pervasive symbol of American authority on the Great Seal and currency. (1)
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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor. Here's John Batchelor.
0:10.1	The Wild Turkey, one of ten birds featured in a new book I highly recommend for Thanksgiving
0:16.4	and any other time of the year. Ten birds that changed the world. Stephen Moss is the author,
0:22.6	a distinguished author,
0:24.6	environmentalist, television producer for the BBC Natural History Unit,
0:28.6	and here to take us to the legend and the facts of the wild turkey.
0:34.6	Stephen, a very good evening to your book is a joy, and we're going to follow you through history and across the continents.
0:41.3	But we begin with the wild turkey because I am familiar here in New England.
0:47.3	The wild turkey has reestablished itself.
0:50.3	You have some wonderful numbers to say how it's come back with protection and habitat being protected in some fashion.
0:59.1	The wild turkey was discovered when Europeans came to America.
1:04.2	The wild turkey certainly is a much more capable than given credit.
1:09.4	It's 2.5 to 5.4 kilograms, and it lives in mixed forests.
1:15.7	What did Europe make of the wild turkey when it first heard about this?
1:20.3	And what did they make of the fact that the Americans, over that course of the 18th century,
1:26.7	decided to make the Turkey a major
1:29.0	piece of our legend, so much so that it was almost, if this apocryphal is correct, our national
1:36.7	bird. Good evening to you, Stephen.
1:38.2	Good evening, John. An absolute privilege and pleasure to be here. Well, the Turkey,
1:43.3	like all the birds in my book,
1:45.2	10 birds that changed the world, the Turkey has an extraordinary history through time, through
1:51.0	culture. It's a bird that of course is most familiar to Americans for Thanksgiving and to
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