NOTES

CALIFORNIA QUAIL LAYS EGG IN WILD TURKEY NEST

ALAN H. KRAKAUER, Museumof VertebrateZoology, University of California, Berkeley,California 94720-3160

Intraspecificnest parasitism has evolved several times in the orderGalliformes and has been documentedfor at least32 species(Gelfen and Yom-Tov2001, Yom-Tov 2001). Reportsof interspecificnest parasitism in thisorder are muchless common thanfor eggdumping among conspecifics (Lyon and Eadie 1991). Belowwe describe an instanceof egglaying by CaliforniaQuail (Callipepla californica) in the nestof a Wild Turkey(Meleagris gallopavo). This recordrepresents the firstreport of nest parasitismbetween these two species. We observedthe followinginteraction at the HastingsNatural History Reservation in CarmelValley, Monterey County, California, during a studyof the matingsystem of WildTurkeys. On 22 April 2002, we locateda WildTurkey nest by trackinga radio- taggedfemale to a nestin a woodedravine of coastlive oak (Quercusagrifolia), Californiabuckeye (Aesculus californica), and Californiabay-laurel (Urnbellularia californica)(KalcounisIRgppell and Millar 2002). We visitedthe nestat 10:30 on 23 April to countthe eggswhen the turkeyhen was off the nest. A male and female CaliforniaQuail flushed from the nestas we approached.The nestappeared typical of an early-seasonturkey nest in thispopulation: it wasa shallowdepression in the leaf litterat the baseof a tree, partiallyscreened by shrubbyground cover. In the nestwe found one quail egg situatedon top of seventurkey eggs. On 26 April, the nest contained10 turkeyeggs; we foundno signof thequail egg, although we didnot shift the turkeyeggs to checkthe bottomof the nestthoroughly. At leasteight turkey eggs hatchedon 22 May, two undevelopedturkey eggs failed to hatch,and a thorough searchof the nestsite revealed no traceof the quailegg. This parasiticquail egg was the onlyone found in about45 turkeynests examined during the courseof the study. CaliforniaQuail and MountainQuail (Oreortyxpictus) are both commonresidents at the HastingsNatural History Reservation (Davis et al. 1980); CaliforniaQuail in particularoverlap considerably with turkeysin this location(pers. obs.). We can not entirelyrule out the possibilitythat the quailegg may have hatched. However,it seemsunlikely that it couldhave been properly incubated. Turkey eggs are almosttwice the widthof quaileggs (Bent 1932), suggestingthat oncethe eggswere turned,the muchsmaller quail egg might have fallen below the turkeyeggs and would not haveproperly contacted the broodpatch of the turkeyhen. We do not knowthe causeof the disappearanceof the quailegg, butwe hypothesizethat it wasdestroyed by the incubatingturkey hen or was the victimof a nest predatorthat couldnot consumethe much largerturkey eggs. Althoughegg dumpingby CaliforniaQuail in Wild Turkey nestshas not been reportedpreviously, this behavioris not entirelyunexpected. California Quail are reportedto practiceintraspecific nest parasitism (i.e., "dumpnests," Glading 1938), and evenlay eggsindiscriminately on the groundwhile searching for nestsites (Tyler 1913). Their eggshave also been found in the nestsof the MountainQuail (Grinnell et al. 1918), SpottedTowhee (Pipilo rnaculatus,Bleitz 1956), and White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys,Bent 1932). Turkey nests are vulnerableto conspecificegg dumping (Bailey and Rinell1967, Krakauerunpubl. data) and have also been parasitizedby Ring-neckedPheasants (Phasianus colchicus, Schmutz 1988). Moderninteractions between turkeys and quail in Californiabegan within the past 125 yearsand are the resultof an intensivemanagement program aimed at

WesternBirds 34:169-170, 2003 169 NOTES establishingthe Wild Turkeythroughout the state(Wunz 1992). Historically,however, thisobservation may not representa novelinteraction, since fossil evidence suggests that CaliforniaQuail may havebeen sympatric with a speciesof turkeyin the late Pleistocene(Miller and DeMay 1942). Futurestudies, especially those involving radio- trackingand nest-monitoring,may uncoveradditional instances of this interspecific nest parasitism. Manythanks to J. Leyheand C. Millerfor fieldassistance, and J. Bland,E. DuVal, M. Hauber,W. Koenig,and S. Rothsteinfor commentson thismanuscript. This study wasfunded by the NationalScience Foundation (IBN-0104967), the Departmentof IntegrativeBiology and Museumof VertebrateZoology of Universityof California, Berkeley,the Animal BehaviorSociety, and the AmericanOrnithologists Union.

LITERATURE CITED

Bailey,R. W., and Rinell,K. T. 1967. Eventsin the turkeyyear, in The Wild Turkey and Its Management(O. H. Hewitt, ed.), pp. 73-91. WildlifeSoc., Washington, D.C. Bent,A. C. 1932. Lifehistories of NorthAmerican gallinaceous birds. U.S. Natl. Mus. Bull. 162. Bleitz,D. 1956. Eggsof the CaliforniaQuail in thenest of a SpottedTowhee. Condor 58:77-78. Davis,J., Koenig,W. D., and Williams,P. L. 1980. Birdsof the HastingsReservation, MontereyCounty, California. W. Birds 11:113-128. Gelfen, E., and Yom-Tov,Y. 2001. Factorsaffecting the ratesof intraspecificnest parasitismamong Anseriformesand Galliformes.Anim. Behav. 62:1027- 1038. Glading,B. 1938. Studiesof the nestingcycle of the CaliforniaQuail in 1937. Calif. Fish and Game 24:318-340. Grinnell,J., Bryant,H. C., and Storer,T. I. 1918. The Game Birdsof California. Univ. of Calif. Press,Berkeley. Kalcounis-Rgppell,M. C., andMillar, J. S. 2002. Partitioningof space,food, and time by syntopicPeromyscus boylii and P. californicus.J. Mammal.83:614-625. Lyon, B. E., and Eadie,J. M. 1991. Mode of developmentand interspecificavian broodparasitism. Behav. Ecol. 2:309-318. Miller,L., and DeMay, I. 1942. The fossilbirds of California.Univ. Calif. Publ.Zool. 47:47-142. Schmutz,J. A. 1988. Ring-neckedPheasant parasitism of WildTurkey nests. Wilson Bull. 100:508-509. Tyler,J. G. 1913. Somebirds of the Fresnodistrict, California. Pac. Coast Avifauna. 9:1-59. Wunz, G. A. 1992. Wild Turkeysoutside their historicrange, in The Wild Turkey: Biology and Management(J. G. Dickson, ed.), pp. 361-384. Stackpole, Mechanicsburg,PA. Yom-Tov,Y. 2001. An updatedlist and some commentson the occurrenceof intraspecificnest parasitism in birds.Ibis. 143:133-143.

Accepted 5 November 2003

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