Name That Animal

~ YesBiscuit

I do realize this one is going to be extra hard since the mystery animal is still inside the egg but it’s a holiday so everything is just a little worse today, you know?

This is just for fun and the only rule is:  no researching.  Post your best guesses in the comments.  Answer will be posted in the comments tomorrow.

eggs

11 thoughts on “Name That Animal”

  3. I think it has to be a bird that nests on rock ledges. The shape helps keep the egg from rolling too far (it will mostly spin in circles), and the coloration would help it blend in. I’m thinking the bird also doesn’t make much of a nest. Some kind of sea bird, like a puffin, or related bird, is my guess. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone, and Shirley, I am very thankful for your work, your bravery, and your compassion for animals. (And I thank Billy for being a great guy!)

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    1. Thank you for your kind words Kate and for stopping by to have a smart sounding guess on the holiday. Everyone here is so much smarter than me. It keeps me humble.

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  7. eggs from the feral turkeys who live on Staten Island – just heard about them on the radio today. I am also grateful for the work Shirley does and for all the people who care about animals –

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  8. ANSWER TIME:

    These eggs belong to the guillemot. From this animal’s Wiki entry:

    The common murre or common guillemot (Uria aalge) is a large auk. It is also known as the thin-billed murre in North America. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North-Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming to land to breed on rocky cliff shores or islands.
    […]
    Common murre eggs are large (around 11% of female weight), and are pointed at one end. There are a few theories to explain their pyriform shape:

    If disturbed, they roll in a circle rather than fall off the ledge.
    The shape allows efficient heat transfer during incubation.
    As a compromise between large egg size and small cross-section. Large size allows quick development of the chick. Small cross-sectional area allows the adult bird to have a small cross-section and therefore reduce drag when swimming.
    […]
    The eggs vary in colour and pattern to help the parents recognize them,[citation needed] each egg’s pattern being unique. Colours include white, green, blue or brown with spots or speckles in black or lilac.

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