Donald Stahlberger, age 10, of New York, N.Y., For his question:

Do turkeys live only in the United States?

There are wild turkeys in Mexico, Florida, Texas and parts of our Southwest. These are the only wild turkeys in the world, for the big birds are natives of North and Central America. The Spaniards found tame turkeys in Central America, and around 1530 they sent some of these delicious table birds to Europe.

The friendly Indians brought wild turkeys to the first Thanksgiving dinner. Meantime, the tame turkeys in Europe became very popular and made themselves at home in many countries. People forgot where they came from, and later the settlers brought some of them back home to the New World. All our domesticated turkeys are descended from the tame turkeys of Central America.