Page 129 - (DK) I Can’t Believe It! 2

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Which bird laid Elephant birds had died out by the 18th In terms of
century, but a few of their eggshells still
exist. Most shell remains, however, are
volume, an
found as fragments. Pieces found near
the biggest egg? the sites of ancient cooking fires egg is as big as
elephant bird’s
suggest that people ate the eggs.
200 chicken
eggs or 11
ostrich eggs.
Eggs of the extinct elephant bird were up The shell of the egg
is ¼ in (3.8 mm)
to 13 in (34 cm) long. Elephant birds lived in thick and could bear
the weight of about
Madagascar until a few hundred years ago. 90 bricks (550 lb/248 kg).

Ostrich

The ostrich is the world’s
largest bird, and it lays
the biggest eggs today—
although they are the
smallest in relation to the
size of the mother. They
weigh on average just
over 3 lb (1.4 kg)—more Elephant bird
than 20 chicken eggs.
Chicken

Cetti’s warbler
The most familiar Guillemot
eggs are laid by
the domestic KIWI EGGS
chicken.
Guillemot eggs roll in
circles, so they don’t
fall off cliff ledges, Great auk
where they are laid.

Carrion crow
Kiwis lay the biggest eggs Curlew
in relation to their body size.
One egg can be up to one-fifth Sparrowhawk
of the weight of its mother. Cuckoo Redshank

US_126_127_309600_ICBT_Largest_egg.indd 127 19/12/17 2:36 pm