The turkey is a large bird in the genus Meleagris, native to North America. There are two extant turkey species: the wild turkey  (Meleagris gallopavo) of eastern and central North America and the ocellated turkey  (Meleagris ocellata) of the Yucatán Peninsula  in Mexico. Males of both turkey species have a distinctive fleshy wattle, called a snood, that hangs from the top of the beak. They are among the largest birds in their ranges. As with many large ground-feeding birds (order Galliformes), the male is bigger and much more colorful than the female.