The avian eggshell is a bio-ceramic structure that protects the embryo. It is composed almost
entirely of calcium carbonate and a small amount of organic material. An optimal amount of …

Guinea fowl eggshells have an unusual structural arrangement that is different from that of
most birds, consisting of two distinct layers with different microstructures. This bilayered …

Some hosts of avian brood parasites reduce or eliminate the costs of parasitism by removing
foreign eggs from the nest (rejecter hosts). In turn, even acceptor hosts typically remove most …

Avian brood parasites lay their eggs in other birds' nests and impose considerable fitness
costs on their hosts. Historically and scientifically, the best studied example of circumventing …

Many hosts have evolved diverse cognitive mechanisms to recognize and reduce the cost of
social parasitism. For example, great reed warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus can …

The avian egg exhibits extraordinary diversity in size, shape and color, and has a key role in
avian adaptive radiations. Despite extensive work, our understanding of the underlying …

Eggs and nests are two critical traits for the ecological success of birds. Their functional
interactions, however, remain unclear. Here, we examined the functional connections …

The phenomenon of cuckoos' brood parasitism is well known and can be investigated using
applied mathematical techniques. Among adaptive features of this phenomenon are certain …

Despite the costs to avian parents of rearing brood parasitic offspring, many species do not
reject foreign eggs from their nests. We show that where multiple parasitism occurs, rejection …

Brood parasitic birds constitute a model system for the study of coevolution. Such parasites
are unique by having evolved unusually thick eggshells for their body size. Thick eggshells …