12/84Number of bird species that have been sighted in Central Park since its opening in 1858: 259
9/85Pounds of frozen chicken Peru exported to the Soviet Union this year to help pay back a loan: 1,860,432
10/87States that have not outlawed cockfighting: 5
8/87Blossoms needed to supply nectar for one hummingbird each day: 1,600
9/87Percentage of the members of the Texas Restaurant Association that serve chicken-fried steak: 90
11/89Estimated number of calories a person consumes during Thanksgiving dinner: 2,250
Estimated number of calories a Thanksgiving turkey consumes in its lifetime: 110,000
Percentage of bird species that are: 90
12/90Amount Americans spend each year on birdseed: $1,100,000,000
9/91Chances that a chicken sold in a supermarket is infected with salmonella: 1 in 3
9/91Estimated number of birds that are killed in collisions with TV broadcast towers each year: 1,250,000
5/92Price of Video Catnip, a 25-minute video of birds, squirrels, and chipmunks, from Pet Avision: $19.95
11/93Ratio of the number of wild turkeys in the United States to the number of wild-turkey hunters: 2:1
11/93Number of hamburgers called for in White Castle’s recipe for turkey-stuffing: 10
4/93Percentage change, since 1991, in sales of rubber chickens at House of Magic in San Francisco: +150
11/94Pounds of feed forced down a duck’s throat each day in the last month of its life in order to produce foie gras: 6
5/94Price of an electronically animated bluebird, featuring “digitally recorded birdsong,” from The Sharper Image: $29.95
1/95Number of oceanographers conducting a study of the ducks’ dispersion as a measure of ocean currents: 2
11/95Number of strikes bowled at Rob & Carol’s Frozen-Turkey Bowl, held last November in Modesto, California: 0
11/95Age, in years, of the oldest frozen turkey about which Butterball’s hot line has ever fielded a “freshness” question: 23
3/95Percentage change since 1950 in the average life span of an American chicken raised for slaughter: -67
3/95Number of people who attended the return of the buzzards to Hinckley, Ohio, on Buzzard’s Sunday last March: 5,000
8/95Price of renting a duck to compete in the annual Great American Duck Race held in Deming, New Mexico, this month: $5
11/97Number of Fowl Balls, a snack made from deep-fried turkey testicles, sold last year at Denver’s Coors Field: 243
11/97Number of Thanksgiving turkeys granted a presidential pardon since 1947: 50
7/97Rank of chicken feet among Chinese moviegoers’ favorite snacks: 1
3/98Ratio of chickens killed last January in Hong Kong’s flu scare to total chickens sold in the U.S. each day at KFCs: 3:2
Days of prayer that Buddhist monks and nuns devoted to the souls of slaughtered chickens last winter in Hong Kong: 7
7/98Amount the California prison system has spent since 1993 to prevent birds from being electrocuted by its fences: $3,400,000
11/99Percentage of turkeys tested by the Agriculture Department in 1996 and 1997 that were infected by campylobacteria: 90
Rank of campylobacteria among the most common bacterial causes of diarrheal illness in the U.S.: 1
11/00Price of a copulating turkey decoy, designed to flush fowl inflamed with territorial jealousy: $49.99
3/00Estimated percentage change since 1979 in the number of birds killed annually by U.S. communications towers: +186
3/00Fine levied on a California man last fall for shooting an owl with a slingshot, then beating it: $10,000
4/00Number of days a Norse woman incubated a bird’s egg between her breasts last spring before giving up: 28
11/01Ratio of New York bird deaths last summer attributed to West Nile virus to those attributed to pollution: 2:3
11/02Average number of tons of manure produced by U.S. cattle, pig, and chicken feedlots each minute: 277
11/02Ratio of the number of pardons George W. Bush has issued turkeys to those he has issued human beings: 2:1
12/05Percentage of British adults who are members of any of their country’s three major political parties: 1.2
6/05Rank, on the Turkish bestseller list in March, of a thriller depicting a U.S. invasion of Turkey: 1
Rank of Mein Kampf: 2
9/05Chances that college students select as “most desirable” the same face chosen by the chickens: 49 in 50
2/06Number of dominoes that a wayward sparrow toppled just before a Dutch world-record attempt in November: 23,000
11/08Total votes cast online last fall to decide which Thanksgiving turkeys President Bush should pardon: 27,726
4/08Estimated number of wild New York City pigeons illegally caught and sold to shooting clubs each year: 144,000