What kind of egg?

[erugs]

Is there anything in the Green Hills Preserve in North Conway that would lay an egg that is about the size of a Jumbo chicken egg? We found a white egg about two feet off the trail to Peaked Mtn. yesterday in low-bush blueberry shrubs. I thought it might just be some hiker's discarded hard boiled trail food, but next to the egg were a couple of grey, downey feathers, so I had second thoughts on that idea. Anyone have any suggestions? Grouse eggs, to my knowledge, are smaller and sort of brown with spots.

 

[carole]

Could be turkey

 

[erugs]

I wondered about that. The wild turkey egg photos I was able to find on line showed them as spotted, but another web site declared they were white but had no photos. The size I've seen described 2 1/2 inches which was probably the size we saw. There was no nest visible and I also wondered if a predator had started to take the egg away, may after an altercation with the mom, thus the few feathers. At least it wasn't as gross as the freshly deheaded fawn I saw on the trail two years ago!

 

[gaiagirl]

Turkey eggs generally have pinkish-brown spots which are often very small though still visible. The nest is usually lined with leaves, but is basically just a depression either in the forest or in forest clearings. I'm not sure what the egg you saw might have been, but perhaps grouse? Grouse eggs can be speckled, but they are more often not and usually a buffy color overall. They lay 1 egg each day until the clutch is complete at about 10 +/- eggs.

 

[bridgeman]

They egg may have been carried a long distance by two european swallows, or were they african swallows? I don't know!

 

[Jason Berard]

that'd be easier than carrying a coconut!

sorry, couldn't resist.

sounds like a large bird...could it be some kind of bird of prey egg?

 

[erugs]

I just knew there would be some "foul" comments flying around following the airing of my inquiry on the web. At least the thread didn't wing off in some other direction.

 

[dr_wu002]

Jeez, it's obviously alligator.

-Dr. Wu

 

[dug]

They egg may have been carried a long distance by two european swallows, or were they african swallows? I don't know!

How do you know so much about swallows?