Accidentally disturbed wild Turkey nest

[R2elk]

I would just check and see if they're actually developing. If they are I would then contact someone. If they aren't I would just leave it.

You just don't get it. It is illegal. It is considered wildlife harassment. If the hen was going to come back and the nest is disturbed, it will guarantee that she won't come back.

Do not approach the nest within 100'. Do not touch the eggs for any reason.

 

[MGG]

You just don't get it. It is illegal. It is considered wildlife harassment. If the hen was going to come back and the nest is disturbed, it will guarantee that she won't come back.

Do not approach the nest within 100'. Do not touch the eggs for any reason.

Ok. I clearly have never dealt with anything like that. I'm not trying to be mean or anything. Thanks for correcting me.

 

[HollisHouseHomestead]

What may seem to you to be a safe distance is very likely not considered a safe distance by the hen. If you can see the nest, you are too close.

Respectfully, I find this to be conjecture at least in my experience. I have come very close to Blue Jays, Mocking bird, Cardinal, and lots of Duck nests and never had an issue with the mother not coming back. I have been inches from stepping on her nest probably 15-20 times over the weekend and was operating a chainsaw and heavy machinery only a few yards from her and she did not move. So I really do not think that viewing her nest from a few feet up in a tree that's about 20-30 feet away will scare her off. My only evidence of this is that I just check for the third time around noon and she is back again!

Thanks for all the info and quick replies, I will take all of this into consideration if it happens again.

 

[MGG]

That's great that she's back!

 

[R2elk]

Respectfully, I find this to be conjecture at least in my experience. I have come very close to Blue Jays, Mocking bird, Cardinal, and lots of Duck nests and never had an issue with the mother not coming back. I have been inches from stepping on her nest probably 15-20 times over the weekend and was operating a chainsaw and heavy machinery only a few yards from her and she did not move. So I really do not think that viewing her nest from a few feet up in a tree that's about 20-30 feet away will scare her off. My only evidence of this is that I just check for the third time around noon and she is back again!

Thanks for all the info and quick replies, I will take all of this into consideration if it happens again.

For the most part, tree nesting song birds do not hide their nests and have very little fear of ground dwellers such as us bipeds. Turkeys do hide their nests. They need to hide them from predators and tom turkeys.

It is very unlikely the the hen was on the nest at any of the times you were right by the nest. It is possible that she wasn't anywhere in the vicinity. It appears that she is in the process of laying a clutch of eggs which she would only be at the nest whenever it was time to lay an egg.

It is most likely that the only time that she was on the nest while you were there previously was the time that you spooked her off of the nest. It would have been very difficult for you to find the nest originally because during the periods that she was gone from the nest, the eggs would have been covered with leaves and bits of grass or brush.

As a person who raises heritage turkeys, I can guarantee you that it can take very little disturbance to cause a turkey to abandon a nest and make a new, better hidden nest.