The Mysterious Egg Caper

 

 

From the trail camera is a curious couple of photos of a turkey hen with an egg in her mouth.

What gives?

So I sent-off an email to a certified wildlife biologist at the University. 

Hiya Jamie...   From the trail camera is a puzzler.  Why would a turkey hen be moving an egg?  I cannot imagine she could get her beak around an intact egg.  But I'm happy to be wrong on that. Or is this some sort of predatory behavior?  Thanks, as always, for any insights.  Tom 

To which she replied.

Hi Tom,  You always have the most interesting trail camera photos!  From my understanding, hen turkeys do not relocate viable eggs.  I believe that this is a hen removing an egg from the nest that was depredated to avoid attracting additional predators to the remaining eggs.  Predators like ground squirrels and crows may puncture an egg and consume the insides.  While turkey hunting this year, I came across a turkey egg right in the middle of a trail (see attached), this was probably a similar scenario, or a predator carried it this far.  This looks like a crow, or another bird used its beak to pierce the shell.  Starting to see quite a few broods of turkey poults, hopefully you are, too.    Cheers,  Jamie

The plot thickens.  Jamie forwarded the email chain to a colleague for further discussion.

Hi Chris,  I hope you are doing well!  Below is an email I received from a landowner as well as my reply.  It got me thinking and I'm curious if you have any other plausible explanations for the hen turkey with an egg in her mouth.  Have you documented any turkey nest predation by turkeys?   During my master's research, I did have a turkey depredate a grassland bird nest and I know of at least one grouse nest depredated by a turkey... all opportunistically, I'm sure.   I'd appreciate any thoughts you may have.  Have a great week!   Jamie 

And the response from Chris.

Hi Jamie,   Good to hear from you. Things are going well here. I hope you’re enjoying your summer thus far!   Well…this isn’t something you come across every day! I haven’t knowingly encountered an instance where a turkey has eaten an egg, although I have suspected it. I’m aware of colleagues in other states that have attributed egg loss to turkeys on occasion, but none to my knowledge have photos of a bird carrying an egg. I did come across one wildlife photographer who was able to document a similar occurrence and included it in a blog post (https://www.robertgroosphotography.com/home/the-egg-bandit).     Turkeys are very opportunistic. And while eggs are not part of their normal diet, they are eaten on (relatively) rare occasion. I think it most likely occurs when a bird comes across an abandoned nest; or in the case of a hen, if she is bumped off a nest and the eggs are partially eaten by a predator, she may return and consume the remaining egg(s) since they are highly nutritious – which could be especially valuable if she decided to renest. However, I don’t believe that turkeys are actively hunting for eggs, whether it be that of other turkeys or other ground-nesting birds (which comes up way too often in discussions on ruffed grouse). Hope this is helpful.   Cheers,  Chris

So there you have it.  A possibly opportunistic turkey keeping-up with housekeeping around the nest.

Never a dull moment around here and an opportunity to learn something new.

The Three Amigos

Meet the Three Amigos.

 

Same birds. 

 

Same date.

 

Different time and location.

 

 

Jakes of a feather - hang together.

 

Juvenile delinquents... 

 

 

 

 

Strategic Alliance

If you spend as much time as I do napping in a deer stand or turkey blind one of the observations made during a hunter’s waking moments is that deer and turkeys sometimes hang out together.   It’s not all the time; yet, it isn’t a rare occurrence either.

The proximity of a flock of turkeys to one or more deer doesn’t scare-off the whitetails and the presence of the deer doesn’t seem to bother the birds.  By all outward appearances they seem to enjoy the company of one another.  What might be the explanation for this curious wildlife behavior and what seemingly might be a symbiotic relationship?

Wild turkeys both see in color and their vision is incredibly advanced – possibly three times greater than that of a human with 20/20 vision.  Since turkey do not sport external ears their field of view is 270 degrees and they can detect motion a hundred yards distant.  Turkeys move about in sizeable flocks resulting in dozens of vigilant eyes.  Inasmuch as turkeys will immediately begin to distance themselves from any movement they conclude is suspicious whitetail deer place their trust in the instincts of their turkey pals and follow.

Similarly, it is the sniffer of a whitetail that is incredibly advanced. I’ve been busted by a deer that winded me long before the animal ever had an opportunity to detect my presence visually.  In a group setting, if a deer goes on high-alert as a consequence of a whiff of danger the turkeys place their trust in the instincts of their whitetail pals and follow.

This photo - one of about a dozen taken over a period of twenty minutes - of a whitetail doe and fawn, accompanied by a wild turkey is likely further evidence of this symbiotic relationship.  

So, if you’re driving down the road some day and you spy a flock of turkeys keeping company with a doe and her fawns or any collection of whitetail deer there’s an explanation other than mere coincidence.

Some biologists have concluded that each species trusts the other’s best sense for their mutually-assured security.

Bearded Lady

Just like PT Barnum featured a Bearded Lady in his circus sideshow I have one too.

And I'm no sucker for a scam because this gal is the real deal.

For awhile I've been following the coming and goings of this oddity of the turkey kingdom and it would appear that she's taken-up residence here at The Platz to raise a brood maybe?

A bearded turkey hen is a female turkey (hen) that has a beard, a tuft of bristle-like feathers growing from the breast.  

While all toms (male turkeys) have beards, about 10% of hens also develop them, though usually shorter and thinner than those of toms. Bearded hens still breed, lay eggs, and raise broods like any other hen.

 

X-Rated

If you have a thin skin about sexual matters go no further.

STOP!

Exit the blog.

Now.

On the other hand if you appreciate biology, reproduction and all things about wildlife you may get a charge out of this.

For the first time ever I have trail camera images of wild turkeys doing it.  Yup.  The wild turkey mambo.  I left the date and time stamps on the photos in this montage so you can appreciate the amount of time spent from beginning to end.

I cannot measure the duration of foreplay as much of that likely occurred beforehand out of view; although knowing what I know about the courtship rituals of this species it was likely quite extended and sustained.  

Enjoy.....

 

Gobblers!

From the trail camera trap line there are gobblers; lots of them.

Strutting their stuff for the ladies;

Full of themselves

With loving on their mind.

Truthfully, this spring ritual is absolutely spectacular......

Gobblers!

More gobblers strutting their stuff for the ladies.

Coming and going.

 

Stay-tuned.

The best is yet to come! 

From The Trail Cameras

From the trail camera trap line last weekend are a couple of oddities.

A bearded turkey hen is a female turkey (hen) that has a beard, a tuft of bristle-like feathers growing from the breast. While all toms (male turkeys) have beards, about 10% of hens also develop them, though usually shorter and thinner than those of toms. Bearded hens still breed, lay eggs, and raise broods like any other hen. 

Like this hen who has been showing-up on my cameras.

 

And a raccoon with no tail..... 

 

Turkeys On The March

Sure, it's turkey hunting season, and an opportunity to scratch your outdoor itch during springtime.  

The gobblers and the ladies are on the march....

 

Talking Turkey

It's that time of year.

As the daylight hours continue to lengthen a hormonal response in the male of this species has commenced.  These long-beards have got loving on their mind.

The turkey trot commences.

From the trail camera trap line there is this.

 

 

Scratch Your Itch

From the video trail camera there was this.

Sometimes you gotta scratch that itch.

Or maybe look for a snack....

More Brood Flocks

Fresh from the trail camera trapline are mama hens tending to their flock of turkey poults....

 

Brood Flocks

For awhile I was genuinely concerned that I hadn't seen any turkey poults on the trail cameras this spring and summer.

Plenty of adults; but no babies.

I figured maybe the torrential monsoons in the spring caused a hatch failure.  And the second laying.  Or maybe the burgeoning population of predators (coyotes, racoon, skunk and fox) got what was left.

Then all of a sudden when I ran the trail camera trapline towards the end of August,  Voila!

There they were.  All sorts of them.

Hens along with some good-sized youngsters to put my mind at ease.

I haven't a clue where they've been hanging-out; but I guess I shouldn't fret so much.

Tough bird the turkey is....

 

Talkn' Turkey

It's that time of year.

As the daylight hours continue to lengthen a hormonal response in the male of this species has commenced.  These long-beards have got loving on their mind.

From the video cam here's thirty seconds silent movie vignettes.

The turkey trot commences.....

Birds of a Feather.....

.....Flock together.

Wild turkeys tend to travel in flocks as there is safety in numbers.  If you have a dozen or more pairs of keen eyes predators can frequently be spotted before they pose a threat.

Turkey flocks take many forms.  A brood flock includes hens and a mixed sex collection of that year's recruitment of the newly-hatched.  Brood flocks are sometimes led by a matriarchal Boss Hen.

Jakes - yearling males - also travel in flocks.  They are like gangs of teenage boys and are prone to making trouble and bad decisions.  They are the juvenile delinquents of the species.

This is a flock of long beards; mature males referred-to as gobblers.  Outside of the breeding season these flocks are typical and can be led by a dominant male bird.  (The pecking order applies to birds of both sexes).  With the arrival of spring and with loving on their minds any previous conviviality goes out the window and these males will resort sparring amongst themselves as they compete to collect their harems of hens with which to breed.

Jakes who are stupid enough to attempt to breed with a mature gobbler's lady friend can expect a sound thrashing.

These photos were taken by camera #2 on the north bank of Silver Creek and camera #1 west of the house and within a stone's throw of the Taj 2.0.  The interval was sixteen minutes apart.

 

Bearded Bird

If you’ve seen a male wild turkey, you likely noticed a shock of long, dark, fibrous bristles hanging from its breast plumage.  That’s called a beard, and it’s made of modified feathers. 

Jakes (yearling male birds) have beards of 3 to 4 inches in length, while a 2-year-old gobbler has a 7- to 9-inch beard.  Older gobblers have beards of 10-plus inches.  

It has been theorized that 10 to 20 percent of hens (female turkeys) have beards.  Aside from this likely genetic mutation bearded hens also breed, lay eggs and raise broods. As far as we know, bearded hens are just as sexy to spring gobblers as those without.  

You don’t have to purchase a ticket to the circus to see a bearded lady….

 

Playing Well With Others

The proximity of a flock of turkeys to one or more deer doesn’t scare-off the whitetails and the presence of the deer doesn’t seem to bother the birds.  By all outward appearances they seem to enjoy the company of one another.  What is the explanation for this curious wildlife behavior and what seemingly might be a symbiotic relationship?

Wild turkeys are gifted with advanced eyesight.  Not only do they see in Technicolor but their vision is about three times greater than that of a person with perfect 20/20 vision.  Turkeys are also social animals and travel in flocks of multiple birds.  Which translates into multiple eyes keeping careful watch on possible threats.

The sniffer of a whitetail deer is incredibly advanced.  So much so, that I've been busted by a deer that scented my presence long before they spotted me.

There are some wildlife biologists that have posited that both of these species trusts the other's best sense for their mutually-assured security.

So it should not come as a a surprise that they'll be in the company of each other from time to time...

 

Turkey Rumble

Last week I shared that there were plenty of wild turkeys on the local landscape and that it was likely that the gobblers would begin their courtship rituals before too long.

One of them being the establishment of dominance among their bachelor groups.

From one of the trail cameras is a burst sequence of photos of a couple of wild turkey jakes (yearling male birds) sparring.

My Pals Six Deuce, Braumeister and Lawyer are going to be rotating thru The Platz soon to try their hunting prowess on bagging a bird this spring.

I hope they're reading this.....

 

Spring Turkey

Judging from what is appearing on the trail cameras I have a good feeling about spring turkey hunting.  Of course bringing up the subject of hunting success can also have the unintended effect of invoking the wrath of the turkey gods.  Nevertheless, the feeling persists.

By all outward appearances, following successful spring recruitment of poults, the moderate fall weather of 2022 and milder winter there are an abundant nuber of wild turkeys on the landscape around these parts.

I haven't been witness to any courtship displays just yet - but experience tells me that the dominant gobblers are establishing themselves in the pecking order and preparing to assemble their harems this month.  For now they're moving about in large bachelor groups.

Gobble Gobble Putt!

Tough Bird The Turkey Is

This year's graduating class of turkey poults are almost practically fully-grown.

An excellent recruiting year that leaves this blogger encouraged about spring turkey-hunting!

And just in time for winter the birds are bulking-up.....