With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I'm sure I'm not the only one with turkeys on my mind.

Whether or not you celebrate Thanksgiving—or eat turkeys, for that matter—there's probably a few misconceptions you have about turkeys that might come up this holiday season. Spare yourself the embarrassment and learn the truth about these misunderstood creatures. I've debunked the four most common turkey myths I hear about below. Did I miss any? What turkey myths have you heard?

Myth #1: Eating turkey makes you sleepy

Okay. Let's just get this one out of the way right off the bat.

Yes, turkey meat contains tryptophan, which makes you sleepy. However, ALL meats contain tryptophan, and in fact many other foods—like cheddar cheese—have higher levels of tryptophan per gram than turkeys.

So does turkey make you sleepy? Not particularly. Do you feel sleepy when you eat a turkey sandwich at other times of the year? What about when eating other meats? Cheeses? Didn't think so.

You want to know what is making you sleepy? Eating your own body weight in turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and those delicious marshmallowy sweet potatoes your mom always makes. It's the carb overload that's doing it, not the turkey—so next time you find yourself face-down on the table, don't blame the turkey. Or maybe just don't overeat.

Myth #2: Turkeys are so stupid that they look up at the sky when it's raining and drown themselves

It's true that turkeys do sometimes look up at the sky for a while before looking down again, but that's because—according to scientists in Poultry Science—some turkeys actually have a genetic condition called tetanic torticollar spasms. This condition can cause turkeys to exhibit abnormal behaviors, such as looking at the sky for durations varying from 5 seconds to 1 minute. Despite having this disorder, no turkeys are known to have died from drowning during a spasm episode.

But perhaps you're still skeptical. But what about the turkeys that don't have this genetic condition?

Nope. Still wouldn't look up at the rain and end up drowning. Turkeys have monocular vision. This means that their eyes are located on either side of their head, so they can look at two things at once—but it also means that both eyes can't focus on the same image at the same time, so they don't have great depth of vision. In other words, it's unlikely that turkeys would even look up at all when it's raining, as that angle would probably cause the raindrops to look blurry to them. Instead, they wouldtilt their heads to get a better look.

As for turkeys being stupid, they probably aren't going to invent time travel, but that doesn’t mean they're stupid. Though they may look silly when they walk and when they tilt their heads to see better (which may give the impression of looking confused), they're actually very social animals, both amongst themselves and with humans. They form friendships, have distinct personalities, and play games together.

Myth #3: Turkeys can't fly

If you've ever seen live domesticated turkeys, you may have noticed that they sometimes flap their wings, as if they're trying to get airborne. How silly, you may think, those turkeys are so dumb they don't even realize they can't fly.

Well…actually, we're the ones to blame for that.

When left to their own devices (i.e., in the wild), turkeys actually can fly, at least for short bursts. They even sleep perched on tree branches to be safe from predators. The sad truth is that most domestic turkeys can't fly because we've been selectively breeding them to have larger, broader breasts, and now they're too weighed down by their own meat to fly.

In fact, they're often so disproportionate, they have trouble standing, walking, and mating. So, yeah, way to go, humans.

Myth #4: All turkeys gobble

For American children, the phrase "gobble gobble" is pretty much synonymous with "Happy Thanksgiving." And that's interesting because, as it turns out, not all turkeys can gobble. Only male turkeys can.

Female turkeys, called "hens," communicate through clucks and chirps, like most other birds. But male turkeys, called "gobblers," make that gobbling sound, which is their version of a rooster's crow. It's a "loud, shrill, descending, throaty jumble of sound" that lasts about 1 second (click here to hear examples of gobbles and other turkey noises). Each male turkey has his own unique gobbling "technique," which he uses—combined with strutting—to attract potential mates.

Gobbling and strutting…sounds like a lot of men these days, am I right? No? Tough crowd. #notallturkeys