Ask Dr. Tom
TURDUCKEN SECRETS REVEALED
I was with a friend scouting for turkey season. We saw a couple of hens milling around a brush pile. One hen entered the brush pile, and she ran out a mallard hen. To our amazement, there was a pile of duck eggs inside the brush pile. We were wondering why the turkey was messing with the mallard, and why she would be doing anything with the eggs.
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Courtesy John Hollenbeck
Dump nesting occurs in many species of birds. While usually tied to inexperienced hens, some species, such as pheasants and cowbirds, use it as a strategy to leave the parenting duties to other birds. |
A week later, I spooked the mallard out of the brush pile. I looked at the nest and there were two turkey eggs mixed in with the duck eggs. What is going on?
John Van Hollenbeck
via e-mail
My friend, you are a rare witness of evolution in action. If you had come back one more week, you would have seen chicken eggs in the nest — a turducken nest! The turkducken is a rare creature that makes appearances during the holiday season, although its origins are unknown. You have witnessed the early stages of turducken development.
All kidding aside, the turkey was probably a young hen looking for a nest and, seeing the eggs, may have triggered an instinct to leave a few herself. It is called dump nesting. Dump nesting has been reported in songbirds, pheasants, quail, geese and ducks. Sometimes the nesting hen ends up raising the offspring of the interloper! — Dr. Tom
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