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COPYRIGHT 2007 Wilson Ornithological Society
Northern Bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) have several reproductive strategies to enhance recruitment including large clutch size, multiple clutches, and male incubation (Burger et al. 1995). Faircloth et al. (2005) described four possible post-hatch brood amalgamations in bobwhites: adoption, creaching, gang-brooding, and kidnapping. Here we define gang-brooding as two or more broods combining with pairs or single adults. This differs from other post-hatching brood amalgamations involving only the adoption or mixing of offspring. Gang-brooding has been observed in other species of quail, including California Quail (Callipepla californica) (Lott and Mastrup 1999) and Gambel's Quail (C. gambelii) (Brown et al. 1998). Gang- brooding conferred survival and was adaptive in California quail; adult quail involved in communal brooding lived longer than adults not involved in communal brooding (Lott and Mastrup 1999). Gang-brooding has not been documented in Northern Bobwhites across the more arid parts of their range, e.g., Texas and Oklahoma, despite numerous studies dealing with radio-marked birds and nesting records (e.g., Burger et al 1995, DeMaso et al. 1997, Hernandez...
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