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When it comes to
the art of egg decoration, Mother Nature is the
original master. The patterns and lines that adorn
many eggs—like those of murres, grackles, and
jacanas—are positively calligraphic. These markings,
which get their pigment from bile acids and
broken-down red blood cells, are applied during
the tail end of the 20 hours during which the egg
is in the shell-gland region of the oviduct. A shell
that emerges encircled with wispy streaks (above)
means the egg rotated while the inking occurred.
Such surface flourishes serve two practical
purposes, offering camouflage from predators
and identification for colony-dwelling birds
trying to spot their own. Another distinction,
says wildlife ecologist Linnea Hall: No other
animals on Earth mark their eggs. Now that’s
original artwork. —Catherine L. Barker
Photo: In utero motion created the elegant scrawl on the grape-size shell of this great-tailed grackle egg. Photograph by Joel Sartore at University of Nebraska State Museum
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