What's for lunch?

What are you having for Christmas lunch? Maybe turkey, or perhaps goose? Here are a few things you might not know...

• Turkeys don't come from Turkey. The name was originally used to describe guineafowl which were imported from Africa into Europe via Turkey
• Turkeys live in the wild in North America. One has lived in Battery Park in the middle of New York City for nearly 10 years. Named Zelda, she has her own page on Wikipedia and survived Hurricane Sandy
• We might not have wild turkeys here, but the male capercaillie - in the UK, found only in Scotland - is the same size as a small turkey. Males weigh around 4.2 kg (that's 9 lb 4 oz) - more than twice the weight of a female
• Bad luck - you aren't allowed to have capercaillie for Christmas lunch (or any other meal) as it's a protected species
• Capercaillie are in trouble. In Scotland, numbers dropped by 35 per cent between 2004 and 2010. Find out how we're helping to protect them from extinction
• Geese used to be traditional Christmas fare, replacing peacock or wild boar which were consumed in the mediaeval period
• More than 983,000 wild geese of eight different species spend Christmas in the UK
• If you want to go on a wild goose chase of your own, we've got lots of great places where you can see them
• Before the Fens were drained, Fen folk used to have roast bittern for lunch, also called 'Fenman's turkey'

Merry Christmas!