Page 30 - World of Animals - Issue #31

American robin Japanese quail
3cm (L), 2.1cm(W) 3cm (L), 2cm (W)
Scientists aren’t really sure If these eggs have a vivid
why these eye-catching pattern, the female will lay
eggs are so blue, but it’s them at a site that matches
thought that male robins their darker colour, but if it
make better parents the is weak, she will tuck them
brighter the eggs are. somewhere more neutral.

ALL
ACTUAL
Malleefowl SIZE
7cm (L), 4.5cm (W)
These eggs are buried beneath a mound of soil.
Once they are ready to hatch, the chicks must lie on
their backs and dig their way out with their feet.
Common loon
8.9cm (L), 5.7cm (W)
The dark brown colour of this large egg
blends perfectly with the nest, which is
made from twigs and matted grass.
Extraordinary

eggs

Northern jacana
3cm (L), 2.3cm (W) Eggs come in all shapes,
These eggs are laid in flimsy nests that

float on lakes. If they do fall in, there’s no sizes, and colours, but their

harm done, as the eggs are waterproof.
structure is about more than
just aesthetics. Here are some
of the world’s most amazing Kestrel
eggs and their extraordinary 3.8cm (L), 2.8cm (W)
These eggs are laid in the disused nests
adaptations of crows or le balanced on the ledges of

Hummingbird House wren cliffs and tall buildings.

1.4cm (L), 0.8cm (W) 1.7cm (L), 1.3cm (W)
Because of their small size, Temperature is critical
hummingbirds lay some of the for these eggs. A burst
tiniest eggs in the world, in a of sunlight can overheat
nest the size of a walnut. them and kill the chicks.

Emu
14cm (L), 9cm (W)
One emu egg is the equivalent in size to 12 chicken
eggs. Emus lay some of the largest eggs in the world,
second only to ostriches.

© The Art Agency/Sandra Doyle Mistle thrush Common cuckoo

Osprey
2.2cm (L), 1.6cm (W)
6.7cm (L), 3.8cm (W)
6.2cm (L), 4.5cm (W) 3cm (L), 2.2cm (W) The cunning cuckoo creeps into other nests to lay Blue guillemot
The pale blue colour

When these eggs are laid, the nest is may help to camouflage its eggs and then sneaks away. The shells mimic These eggs are specially designed for the high life.
built up to stop them rolling out. A er these eggs by imitating the colour of the host’s eggs, so other birds are The unusual conical shape prevents them from rolling

30 hatching, the nest becomes wider. dappled sunlight. tricked into accepting them as their own. off the cliffs where they are laid.

030_Eggs-traordianry_.indd 30 02/03/2016 12:43