Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2002 22:41:47 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Walter Ellison Subject: Re: RFI: Canada Goose clutch size MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit There is a phenomenon in waterfowl and some other waterbirds often termed "adoption" or more awkwardly "brood amalgamation". On occasion young ducks join a brood from which they didn't hatch. Hens don't seem to discriminate against the newcomers. Given biparental care in geese and swans it's probably less common among those fowl than ducks, but it seems more likely in your case than a 13 egg clutch. Another possibility is the addition of eggs to the clutch by unrelated female geese in your brood mother's nest, something called dump nesting by waterfowl biologists, also unlikely with a vigilant father nearby, but possible nonetheless. Just some ideas, Walter Ellison MD/DC Atlas Coordinator/MOS 23460 Clarissa Rd Chestertown, MD 21620 rossgull@crosslink.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================