DK - WOW! The Visual Encyclopedia of Everything

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(^7) CUCKOO
Cuckoos lay single eggs in the nests
of other birds, and their colour
varies to match the host bird’s eggs.
When the cuckoo hatches, it heaves
the other eggs out so it can eat all
the food its foster parents collect.
(^8) KIWI
A kiwi is 20 times smaller than an
emu, yet its eggs are almost the
same size. This means that the egg is
huge compared to the kiwi that lays
it, at up to a quarter of her weight.
That’s like a human mother giving
birth to a three-year-old child.
(^9) COMMON SANDPIPER
Sandpipers are shorebirds that
lay their eggs in shallow scrapes on
the ground near the water. Their
pointed shape allows them to be
pushed together in a tight clutch
to take up less space. The eggs are
camouflaged by speckled patterns,
and can be hard to see – but if you
do find any birds’ eggs, remember it
is illegal to collect or disturb them.
(^10) HUMMINGBIRD
Hummingbirds lay the smallest of all
birds’ eggs. The bee hummingbird’s
egg is the size of a pea, because
the bird itself is no bigger than
a large moth. This ruby-throated
hummingbird’s egg is bigger, but
still tiny compared to the ostrich egg.
(^11) CHICKEN
The egg that everybody recognizes
is laid by the domestic chicken.
We eat 1.1 trillion of these eggs
every year.
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048_049_Eggs.indd 49 03/01/19 12:09 PM