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bald eagle
If one of our founding fathers had gotten his way, this would not have been our national bird. Who was he, and what bird did he want to represent the United States of America?

Answer:

Benjamin Franklin wanted the wild turkey to be our national bird, instead of the bald eagle. He felt that the bald eagle was a bird of "bad moral Character", because it sometimes takes food from other birds of prey. He also felt that the fact that smaller birds could mob an eagle, chasing it away, meant that eagles were cowards.

This did not keep Franklin from using turkeys in many of his electrical experiments. Quite a few were electrocuted, and then eaten for supper, which might have been the real reason Ben liked turkeys so much.

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