In England, Hampshire anyway, pheasants are very common - partly because they are stocked for shooting. But as a child back in the 50's, I knew a gamekeeper on a large estate and he would take me for walks in the woods and show me pheasant nests - often with as many as 30 eggs in one. Apparently the hens share nests as well as parenting. I've often wondered if wild turkeys here have communal nests too since you usually see several hens together with their poults. No-one has been able to answer that question. Any thoughts? Angela (Dimmitt)

I don't know the average clutch size of Wild Turkeys, but last season the nest in my woods had 12 eggs in it. There were 3 hens in the territory.... and also a famlily of coyotes. Only 5 (that I saw) poults made it. Food for thought.... Brian Webster Stratford, CT b.webster@hotmail.com http://thebirdmojo.blogspot.com/ > From: Angeladimmitt@aol.com > Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 10:54:24 -0500 > To: ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org > Subject: [CT Birds] Pheasants > > In England, Hampshire anyway, pheasants are very common - partly because > they are stocked for shooting. But as a child back in the 50's, I knew a > gamekeeper on a large estate and he would take me for walks in the woods and > show me pheasant nests - often with as many as 30 eggs in one. Apparently > the hens share nests as well as parenting. I've often wondered if wild > turkeys here have communal nests too since you usually see several hens > together with their poults. No-one has been able to answer that question. Any > thoughts? > > Angela (Dimmitt) > _______________________________________________ > This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. > For subscription information visit http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail has tools for the New Busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox. http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID27925::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:032010_1

--- On Sat, 3/13/10, Brian Webster <b.webster@hotmail.com> wrote: > I don't know the average clutch size of Wild Turkeys, but > last season the nest in my woods had 12 eggs in it.  The Birder's Handbook entry for Wild Turkey gives a typical number of eggs as 10 to 12, with 6 to 20 as the range. For Ring-necked Pheasant it gives 10-12 as typical and 6 to 15+ for the range. Roy Harvey Beacon Falls, CT

Thanks for the info, Roy. Perhaps, like many creatures, they lay many eggs to increase the chances of chicks growing to adulthood... granted, they do not become victims of predation. Brian Webster Stratford, CT b.webster@hotmail.com http://thebirdmojo.blogspot.com/ > Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 09:00:53 -0800 > From: rmharvey@snet.net > To: ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org > Subject: Re: [CT Birds] Pheasants > > --- On Sat, 3/13/10, Brian Webster <b.webster@hotmail.com> wrote: > > > I don't know the average clutch size of Wild Turkeys, but > > last season the nest in my woods had 12 eggs in it. > > The Birder's Handbook entry for Wild Turkey gives a typical number of eggs as 10 to 12, with 6 to 20 as the range. For Ring-necked Pheasant it gives 10-12 as typical and 6 to 15+ for the range. > > Roy Harvey > Beacon Falls, CT > > _______________________________________________ > This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. > For subscription information visit http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail has tools for the New Busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox. http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID27925::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:032010_1

On Turkeys having communal nests: Bent, in his Life Histories of North American Gallinaceous Birds quotes Audubon stating: "Several hens sometimes associate together, I believe for their mutual safety, deposit their eggs in the same nest, and rear their broods together. I once found three sitting on forty-two eggs. In such cases the common nest is always watched by one of the females, so that no Crow, Raven, or perhaps even Pole-cat, dares approach it." During 2009 I had Pheasant at: Watertown, February, 28th - heard (at Greg H's Shrike) Sharon, Amenia Rd, mid August - 1 male Kent, Macedonia Brook, October, 6th - 2 male, 1 female Goshen, North Goshen Rd, October 28th - 1 male Jim Dugan New Milford On Mar 13, 2010, at 10:54 AM, Angeladimmitt@aol.com wrote: > In England, Hampshire anyway, pheasants are very common - partly because > they are stocked for shooting. But as a child back in the 50's, I knew a > gamekeeper on a large estate and he would take me for walks in the woods and > show me pheasant nests - often with as many as 30 eggs in one. Apparently > the hens share nests as well as parenting. I've often wondered if wild > turkeys here have communal nests too since you usually see several hens > together with their poults. No-one has been able to answer that question. Any > thoughts? > > Angela (Dimmitt) > _______________________________________________ > This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. > For subscription information visit http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org