{"id":1120,"date":"2025-04-19T01:18:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-19T01:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/welter-museum.org\/?p=1120"},"modified":"2025-04-19T01:51:03","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T01:51:03","slug":"spring-the-season-of-rebirth-renewal-lets-consider-some-really-really-big-eggs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/welter-museum.org\/index.php\/2025\/04\/19\/spring-the-season-of-rebirth-renewal-lets-consider-some-really-really-big-eggs\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring: The Season of Rebirth & Renewal – Lets Consider Some Really, Really Big Eggs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Emu Egg\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 Ostrich Egg \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elephant Bird Egg<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Elephant Bird (Aepyornis maximus<\/em>) Egg<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Elephant Bird                      Ostrich<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.worldatlas.com\/articles\/elephant-bird-facts-extinct-animals-of-the-world.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

Elephant Bird Egg<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This egg belonged to the now-extinct Elephant Bird, a giant flightless bird native to Madagascar. The bird has been extinct for about 1,000 years now but remains the largest bird to ever live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elephant Birds belong to the Order Aepyornithiformes and Family Aepyornithidae, but there is debate about the validity of this family.  There were two genera of Elephant Birds and three currently recognized species:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aepyornis hildebrandti<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aepyornis maximus<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mullerornis modestus<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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https:\/\/www.deviantart.com\/meetthefossyls\/art\/The-elephant-birds-Mullerornis-and-Vorombe-925156447<\/a> (modified with current taxonomy)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their extinction 1000 years ago is likely the result of human habitat alteration and overhunting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fun fact<\/em>: This massive egg could hold the equivalent of 160 chicken eggs \u2013 how crazy is that!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kiwi, a small, flightless bird from New Zealand, is the closest living relative\u2014and despite its tiny size, it lays one of the largest eggs relative to body size in the bird world!<\/p>\n\n\n

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https:\/\/www.audubon.org\/magazine\/why-kiwis-egg-so-big<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information on the history of the Elephant Bird, their natural history, and extinction, see:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/beta.capeia.com\/paleobiology\/2019\/03\/03\/to-kill-an-elephant-bird-the-extinction-of-madagascars-avian-giants#:~:text=We%20know%20that%20both%20elephant,not%20harvested%20from%20active%20nests%20.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.worldatlas.com\/articles\/elephant-bird-facts-extinct-animals-of-the-world.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ostrich Egg<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laid by the largest living<\/em> bird, the ostrich egg can weigh over 3 lbs (that\u2019s over 20 times the weight of a chicken egg!). Ostriches are native to Africa and, though they can\u2019t fly, they can reach speeds of up to 45 mph on foot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ostriches belong to the Order Struthioniformes and Family Struthionidae.  There were two extant (still living) species of Ostrich:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Struthio camelus <\/em>or Common Ostrich (sub-Saharan Africa)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Struthio molybdophanes <\/em>or Somali Ostrich (Horn of Africa)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fun fact<\/em>: Their eggs are so strong you can actually stand on one without breaking it! \u2014 though we don\u2019t recommend trying it with ours\u2026 \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo by J. C. Whittaker <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information, see:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/ebird.org\/species\/ostric3\/NA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/ebird.org\/species\/ostric2<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/nationalzoo.si.edu\/animals\/ostrich<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emu Egg   (Dromaius novaehollandiae<\/em>)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This egg comes from the emu, a flightless bird native to Australia. Emu eggs are roughly the size of 10-12 chicken eggs and have a beautiful dark shell that looks almost like polished stone! The eggs often start out a deep emerald green but exposure to sunlight causes them to lose this pigment and turn a more gray-ish black color.<\/p>\n\n\n

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https:\/\/sdzwildlifeexplorers.org\/animals\/emu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fun Fact<\/em>: Emu males take on all the parenting duties \u2013 they incubate the eggs for 8 weeks without eating, drinking, or leaving the nest\u2026and then raise the chicks on their own!!<\/p>\n\n\n

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https:\/\/sdzwildlifeexplorers.org\/animals\/emu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information see:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.bushheritage.org.au\/species\/emu?srsltid=AfmBOooc3cKBiNgAd7KABVel4EaqbLytYTpr07DI1xJx2uGmXYkLKaaj<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/nationalzoo.si.edu\/animals\/emu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/australian.museum\/learn\/animals\/birds\/emu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

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Special thanks to Katie P. Waugh, Maddi M. Barlage, and Peter J. Weinzierl (not pictured) for exhibit inspiration and preparation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

See and learn about some of some of the world’s largest bird eggs. … Continue reading >Spring: The Season of Rebirth & Renewal – Lets Consider Some Really, Really Big Eggs<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-virtual-exhibit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/welter-museum.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/welter-museum.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/welter-museum.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/welter-museum.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/welter-museum.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1120"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/welter-museum.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1134,"href":"https:\/\/welter-museum.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1120\/revisions\/1134"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/welter-museum.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/welter-museum.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/welter-museum.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/welter-museum.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}