Which birds lay more eggs. Which bird bears the largest eggs in relation to its size. Which bird speaks better

The largest eggs in relation to body size are hatched by poor kiwi birds. The egg weighs approximately 26% of the total body weight. Compared to a man, it is like a woman would give birth to a child of 6 years old.

Kiwi is the only ratite species in the world. These small birds weighing 1.2 kilograms are exclusively nocturnal, so for a long time they were poorly studied.

Kiwis form pairs for life, only a few diverge after 2-3 years. The nest is taken care of for a long 80 days, but after birth, the chick is left to fend for itself.

Dad can only look after the baby from afar during the day, and mom completely loses interest in her child. For 10 days, the baby goes without food, the nutrients in the yolk allow him to survive. After this period, the parents completely abandon the baby, he leaves the nest and is independent looking for food for himself.

During the period of gestation, the mother-bird has to eat 3 times more, and immediately before laying she stops eating altogether, since the egg takes up too much space in the body.

Kiwi eggs, in addition to their size, beat another world record: the yolk in an egg contains about 65%, while most other birds have only 35-40%.

By the way, the smallest eggs are laid by ostriches. With a bird weighing about 150 kilograms, the egg weighs no more than 2 kilograms, which is approximately 1.5% of the weight of a large mother.

Everyone is used to the idea that it is the birds that lay the eggs, but this is not so. They are also laid by some amphibians and reptiles. Eggs not only have a varied shape, but also size, color, and gestation period.

The most delicious eggs

Eggs are traditionally used in cooking. But quail eggs are considered the most tender, dietary, and most importantly, delicious eggs. This delicacy is recognized as such throughout the world. Although it is impossible not to notice that everyone decides for himself which eggs seem the most delicious for him.

Quail eggs have been used for food since ancient times, they are mentioned in the papyri of the Egyptians, as well as in the ancient recipes of traditional Chinese medicine. Quail eggs are eaten not only because of their taste, they are hypoallergenic and very useful, for example, there are two and a half times more vitamins in them than in chicken eggs.

The largest bird eggs

The size of an egg is not always related to the size of the bird that lays it. It also depends on what supply of nutrients is needed for the development of the embryo. Birds that are able to take care of themselves immediately after birth develop in large eggs. But birds, which, after emergence, are completely helpless, develop in small eggs.

Everyone knows that ostriches are huge birds. Like all birds, they lay eggs that can be called the largest.

With a diameter of fifteen centimeters, the egg reaches a length of twenty centimeters. If we compare it with a hen's egg, then the volume of an ostrich is twenty times the volume of a chicken. The shell is only one and a half millimeters thick, but it has unprecedented strength. When comparing the size of an egg to that of an ostrich, it can be said that the eggs do not seem so big.

It is known about the Rukh bird that lived in prehistoric times, which lived in Madagascar. It was also called the "Big Elephant Bird". Ostrich eggs next to hers would appear small. Scientists have proven that they were about twenty-six centimeters in diameter, and their length was about thirty-three centimeters. The volume of such an egg was eight liters, which is six times more than an ostrich, and a chicken one hundred and fifty times. Today, only a few specimens of Rukh eggs have survived.

It is impossible not to say about the size of the eggs of the most large birds – emperor penguins... Their eggs weigh four hundred and fifty grams, with a length of twelve and a diameter of nine centimeters.

For comparison with the largest eggs in the world, one can cite the size of the eggs that the smallest bird lays - the hummingbird bird. Its egg is only six millimeters long, which is roughly the size of a pea. More information about the largest birds can also be found on the website.

The most beautiful eggs

It is difficult to say unequivocally which eggs are the most beautiful. Coloring largely depends on whether the laid eggs are in plain sight or well hidden. So, in birds nesting in hollows, eggs are usually light, monochromatic, they do not need camouflage. These are owls and woodpeckers. But waders make nests in the sand, so their eggs, due to the protective coloration, are difficult to see among stones, branches and sand. Their eggs are brown-olive in color. The protective coloration is also inherent in the eggs of the nightjar.

Sometimes eggs nesting on open places birds do not match colors at all environment... These are the eggs of the songbird. They are sky-blue in color, with small dark brown specks on the eggs. Very beautiful eggs and birds such as fieldfare. They are green with reddish dots.

Largest Chocolate Egg

It is interesting to know about such a record holder among eggs as the chocolate egg. The biggest is the one that was made on Easter Sunday in one of the Argentine cities in 2012.

Its weight was over four tons. Its height is eight and a half, and its width is five meters. A wooden frame was previously made to hold the chocolate. The eggs were made by confectioners and took more than two weeks to do it. After the world record was recorded by representatives of the Guinness Book of Records, it was eaten by the festival participants.

This egg outpaced another chocolate egg that was made in Belgium. Its height was eight meters thirty-two centimeters.

Who Lays the Largest Eggs in the World?

Eggs are carried not only by birds, but also by snakes, crocodiles, turtles, echidnas, platypuses. The largest are the eggs laid by African ostriches.

The weight of each egg reaches one and a half kilograms, and the length is twenty centimeters. However, the ostrich egg is considered almost the smallest in relation to the volume of the bird itself. Even a dwarf hummingbird lays eggs that are larger in comparison to its volume than in a similar comparison with an ostrich.

But the kiwi bird lays eggs that correspond to twenty-six percent of the bird's weight. This bird weighs about one and a half kilograms, and its egg reaches five hundred grams. This is an incredibly huge egg size in relative comparison. For clarity, we can give the following example: if people had a similar proportion, a woman would give birth to a child, the weight of which would correspond to the weight of a seven-year-old man.
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Very often, the size of eggs laid by birds is not proportional to the size of the bird itself. Usually large eggs with a large volume of nutritious yolk are laid by those species in which the chicks hatch are relatively developed and are able to take care of themselves almost immediately. From small eggs, chicks are born helpless and weak.

Ostrich chicks

The ostrich chick shows strength even in the egg. For an hour, he breaks through a thick shell, resting his feet on both ends of the egg and pounding with his beak until a hole appears. Having made several such holes, it hits the shell with the back of the head, while getting a hematoma, but achieving the goal.

Ostriches emerge from the egg sighted and active, weighing up to 1.2 kg. The next day, they are able to travel with their parent in search of food, and at the age of one month they can run at a decent speed - 50 km / h. Interestingly, the chicks of ostriches from different groups when they meet, they can mix, and there is no way to separate them. The parents fight for the chicks and the winners take care of the whole group.

Ostrich lifestyle

An adult is up to 250 cm tall and weighs about 150 kg. He has a naked long neck and a head with large eyes.

On the back, ostriches have underdeveloped wings, on the legs - only two toes, one of which at the end contains a semblance of a horny hoof. The blows of a powerful ostrich leg are terrible even for lions, if these birds are guarding their territory.

Usually, in case of danger, they rush to flight, making huge three-four-meter steps at a speed of about 70 km / h. As a rule, ostriches are kept in small families. This is a kind of harem with one male, four to five females and chicks.

Ostriches feed on plant food, but sometimes they eat insects and small animals. At a young age, ostriches eat animal food. Ostriches have no teeth, so they swallow stones, pieces of wood and other objects to grind and digest food in the stomach. The life span of an ostrich is about the same as that of a person - 70 years.

Ostrich eggs

The male forms a pair with one female from the harem, with which he then incubates the chicks. The rest of the females lay their eggs in a hole about 60 cm deep, which was prepared by the male. Straw-yellow, white or dark green eggs weighing 1.5-2 kg in length reach 15-21 cm. Clutch can contain from 15 to 60 eggs.

Incubation lasts from 35 to 45 days. Many embryos die from hypothermia, as they are often left unattended. Ostriches break the spoiled eggs, and the flies that fly on them serve as animal food for the hatched chicks.

There are ostrich farms where birds are raised for meat, feathers and eggs. Thanks to their thick shell, eggs do not spoil for three months, and they can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 6 months. The taste of ostrich eggs is reminiscent of chicken.

Usually, the larger the bird, the larger the egg it lays, but the size of the eggs is not always related to the size of its "parents". The size of the egg depends on the amount of food needed to feed the growing embryo before it hatches from the egg. Birds that are able to take care of themselves almost immediately after hatching from an egg develop in large eggs that have enough nutritious yolk stored in them for the chick to hatch well enough. Chicks hatching blind and helpless are born from small eggs in which the supply of food is insufficient for their full development.

Not all bird eggs are similar in shape to chicken eggs: some birds lay oblong, round and even pear-shaped eggs. Eggs laid in high places are usually shaped to prevent rolling as much as possible. As for the size of the eggs, the ostrich is the champion. An ostrich egg can reach 15-17 cm in length and 13-15 cm in diameter, occupying the same volume as 12-18 chicken eggs! But ostrich eggs are the largest among the eggs that are laid by existing birds. In ancient times, there were birds, next to the eggs of which ostrich eggs would seem tiny. We are talking about the prehistoric legendary roc bird that was found in Madagascar. The shells of the eggs of this bird, found by scientists, gives an idea of ​​the size of the eggs themselves. They reached 33 cm in length and 23–26 cm in diameter. The volume of such an egg was equal to 8 liters, which is 6 times more than that of an ostrich egg and 150 times more than that of a chicken!

And the smallest testicles carry hummingbirds. Some hummingbird species lay eggs only 6 mm long.