Egg laying and nesting processes are used as reproduction methods in the wild and are performed mostly by avian wildlife, called birds. However, there are some reptiles and animals like turtles and the “duck billed” platypus that is native to southeastern Australia and Tasmania, that reproduce by laying eggs as well. Eggs from domestic chickens, prepared in several forms, are a popular breakfast item in restaurants and consumed in great numbers worldwide. Large hatcheries turn eggs into millions of chicks daily through mass incubation.
However, wild birds nest and lay eggs strictly for reproduction purposes far from the controlled environments of hatcheries. Wild birds are classed into two categories: ground nesters, or those who use elevated platforms, such as trees, buildings, electric poles, towers, or cliff banks for nesting sites. Nests constructed on the ground are very vulnerable to egg predators, such as raccoons, opossums, skunks, both feral and domestic cats, dogs, crows and others.
Further, the ground nesters are not only subject to extreme predation but have to endure long, hot days, cold, excessive rains, floods, strong winds, etc.
Even elevated nests are subject to climbing predators and weather elements, as well! Many migrating birds fly long distances back to Michigan in order to try to produce young. Some experience their nesting endeavors end with nest destruction.
Michigan’s upland game birds, quail, ruffled and sharptail grouse, pheasants, woodcock and turkeys are all ground nesters and subject to many of the above predators, as well as the avian type. Most ground nests are concealed by their maker, with turkey nests being an exception. Turkey eggs are white in color with numerous, fine, brown specks. The nests are often found in semi-open areas or in sparse woodlot undergrowth. The white color presents an unobstructed view from above in many cases. Therefore, the eggs are vulnerable to avian predators like crows. Personally, I have found empty turkey egg shells under trees where a crow carried them to a nearby tree, poked a hole in the egg and devoured the contents. Turkeys, both wild and tame, never cover their eggs with leaves, feathers or other debris to hide them during the laying period or while taking a short break from the long sitting period for food and water.
A close up of the June 2, 2026 nest containing 24 eggs. Notice the white color and brown specks. This nest was selected under thick black raspberry bushes. This photo shows how the uncovered eggs are on display to predators.
It seems that many turkeys choose a nest site not far from creeks or ditches, even though these streams are a highway for most of Southern Michigan’s predators.
Turkeys lay an egg per day after selecting a nest site and at the conclusion of this period they sit on these eggs for about 28 more days, only enjoying a short break, usually once per day. This allows all of the eggs to hatch simultaneously!
On June 2, 2026, while we were working in the center of our largest woodlot, which is recovering from a heavy logging operation two and a half years ago, a hen turkey spooked off her nest about 25 yards away. The nest was situated under the canes of a thick, black raspberry patch and the eggs were quite visible from our distance. I was able to snap a few photos of the habitat, the nest area and zoom in onto the nest full of eggs. We quickly left the area hoping the hen would soon return to the nest. The photos revealed there were 24 eggs; by far the most I had ever encountered in a turkey nest. Had two hens contributed to this number, we will never know.
I don’t know how the hen could properly cover so many eggs and keep them warm. On two previously observed turkey nests, each contained 13 eggs and all eggs hatched.
In southern Michigan, farming practices take their toll inadvertently on turkey nests, as well as other ground-nesting birds and animals. Michigan, like many other states, lacks dense, understory cover that benefits nesting turkeys. This above nest confirms the need for thick understory brush for safe, game bird nesting. In the pre-logging days, you could see one end of this mature woodlot to the other. It was like a desert for wildlife. Undergrowth was so rare that if a deer came to visit, he would have to bring his own lunch!
Logging allows sunlight to reach the forest floor and has promoted the growth of a profuse layer of berry vines, tree seedlings and other native shrubs and grasses. The above nest was situated under dense berry vines, allowing the nest to survive for at least 40 days. However, the white eggs, in an uncovered nest, could be seen from 20 to 30 yards away!
Upland game birds are labeled “edge nesters” and prefer that portion of woody growth to establish their nests. Personally, I have discovered turkey nests in wide fence rows, vacant areas, ditch banks, fields and under the edges of small spruce Christmas trees.
A ten-year study by Iowa biologists addressing their turkey population decline revealed that 10% of their turkey nests were in roadside ditches and all failed. I have a strong concern that the above turkey nest, being about 30 yards from a ditch in two directions, with flowing water, could be in trouble from predators using this traveling route. In Iowa, 60% of their failed turkey nests were from predation! Iowa is about five years into their study.
One of the most miraculous events in nature is when the elements of a fertilized egg of any egg-laying species have developed into a matured chick inside the hard-shelled organism. Then, in its crowded, bent, constrained position, the live bird has to peck a hole in the egg’s shell and break a continuous line around the circumference of the egg’s end until it breaks off, allowing the chick to emerge and stretch its cramped body.
It is hard to believe that birds as small as a hummingbird have the strength within a cramped space to break the shell by continuous pecking and escape! Even birds that have long bills at maturity go through the same hatching process. While I served as a woodcock bander for the MDNR, I learned that the bill length of a woodcock at hatching only averaged 14mm. The chick’s bill would increase in length rapidly at the rate of 2mm per day for 15 days, depending on the age of the brood being banded. Other birds with long bills probably follow this same process, so the egg could contain them at hatching. Birds small or large, even with special adaptations, still arrive this way.
Iowa studies show that all unhatched eggs found were fertilized, and 21% of adult hens successfully hatched a nest annually, while 37% of nests were found in forests. They found that four of every five adult turkey deaths occur between April and August, with only 38% of poults surviving to an average of three days. Ten percent of broods survived to four weeks!
Two large, successful turkey nests that I have found on our Barry County farm were deep in the center of our woodlot. I inadvertently found a turkey nest while exploring a corner of our farm after logging on the neighbors. I sat on a stump for a few minutes in a small, open area. After a short time, a hen turkey exploded from a tree top about fifteen feet behind me. I could see a clutch of eggs from where I sat. I could hear her clucking in a nearby thicket, so I quickly counted the eggs (13), took a couple of photos and left. As I recall, all of the eggs hatched, but the survival rate was unknown. We had lots of turkeys during this time. This nest was in the open, visible and near some smaller logs with a leaf base under the eggs, in a mature forest.
The other major nest, found recently and described above, was more concealed than the other mature forest nest, and was in a newly formed understory of brush. None of the turkey nests I have observed featured any kind of egg cover, even during the laying period. This latest nest has survived a long period that included 24 days during the daily egg-laying period, coupled with 28 days of nesting time, making over seven weeks of existence before the hen can successfully bring off a brood of poults!
Almost two months is a long time to maintain a nest in the midst of multiple egg predators and then hatch into the most dangerous, vulnerable period in a poult’s life. Extended periods of cold rain take its toll on the newly hatched, featherless poults! Until the poults develop feathers, they have no escape from ground predators and even those that survive to the flight stage still have to evade hawks and owls until reaching almost full size.
If this hen and her nest, which has already survived for several weeks, endures until her hatch occurs, she will then have to lead her brood of poults to both food and water, which will have to include grassy areas full of bugs. I regret not being able to capture this whole reproduction process on a trail camera. We are hoping for the best in the remaining days for this hen, but beyond the hatch we will never know where her brood will end up!
