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The genus name combines the Ancient Greek kallos meaning "beauty" and kephalē meaning "head". [7] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. [5] The classification of the gang-gang cockatoo has always been controversial due to the unusual appearance and coloration of the bird, especially its sexual dichromatism.
A multi-purpose opening terminating at the vent at the posterior of a bird: birds expel waste from it; most birds mate by joining cloaca (a "cloacal kiss "); and females lay eggs from it. Birds do not have a urinary bladder or external urethral opening and (with exception of the ostrich) uric acid is excreted from the cloaca, along with faeces ...
The color of individual eggs is also genetically influenced, and appears to be inherited through the mother only, suggesting the gene responsible for pigmentation is on the female-specific W chromosome (female birds are WZ, males are ZZ). Color was once thought to be applied to the shell immediately before laying, but this research shows ...
Typically, they lay 2–4 eggs in with those already present. The eggs of both the host and the victim are white, although the indigobird's are slightly larger. Many of the indigo-plumaged species named "indigobirds" are very similar in appearance, with the males difficult to separate in the field, and the young and females near impossible.
As the common cuckoo evolves to lay eggs that better imitate the host's eggs, the host species adapts and is more able to distinguish the cuckoo egg. A study of 248 common cuckoo and host eggs demonstrated that female cuckoos that parasitised common redstart nests laid eggs that matched better than those that targeted dunnocks.
The inside of the nest is lined with wool and grass. [2] The nests can be up to 13 centimetres (5.1 in) high and are found in trees or shrubs. [2] Yellow wattlebirds lay 2–3 eggs that are salmon-red, spotted and blotched red-brown, purplish-red and blue-grey. [2] Both the males and females incubate the egg and feed the young. [8]
Eggs decrease slightly in size from laying to hatching. [162] The yolk comprises 25% of the egg, the egg white 68%, and the shell 7%. Eggs are watery, being 79% liquid, and otherwise mostly protein. [163] The female develops a brood patch of bare skin and plays the main part in incubating the eggs. The male helps, but can only cover the eggs ...
All Papuan bowerbirds lay one egg, while Australian species lay one to three with laying intervals of two days. [ 6 ] [ 7 ] Bowerbird eggs are around twice the weight of those of most passerines of similar size [ 8 ] [ 9 ] – for instance eggs of the satin bowerbird weigh around 19 g (0.67 oz) as against a calculated 10 g (0.35 oz) for a ...