Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Variation on the egg-theme.


When searching for bird nests, occasionally one can find an egg that does not look like one at all. Deformation of an egg can occur for a variety of reasons (which I will not discuss here) and can result in some strange shapes. The weirdest egg I ever observed had been laid by a Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla in its nest on the large former radar tower on Middleton Island during the summer of 2010. I have no idea what would be the cause of its remarkable shape. 


Deformed Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla egg found on Middleton Island in the summer of 2010 (T. van Nus)


Unfortunately, I only have these two photos to show and can’t retrieve any background information about the bird that laid it, though it possibly had been a bird that was included in some physiological study… 

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