Some Facts About Eggs

• The most yolks ever found in an egg: nine—in a chicken’s egg.
• Longest incubation period for an egg: the Royal Albatross’ eggs take 79 days to hatch.
• World’s smallest egg: hummingbird.
• World’s largest egg: ostrich.
• The now-extinct elephant bird of Madagascar laid an egg that weighed 27 pounds.

And did you know? …

Precocial birds—down-covered chicks, such as ducks and gulls, hatch ready to move around, eat on their own and leave the nest if necessary. Altricial birds like owls, woodpeckers, and most songbirds, are hatched naked, blind, and helpless. They need lots of care from parents to survive.