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Eggs and incubation

The books are listed by date with the most recent at the top.

The Egg

Britta Teckentrup

2017

"In this gorgeous picture book, Britta Teckentrup portrays eggs through the eyes of an artist. From hummingbirds to the extinct elephant bird, illustrations of the avian world's smallest and largest eggs demonstrate the variety present in nature. Pastel studies explore the rainbow of soft colors and intricate patterns that make eggs of common birds seem incredibly striking. In Teckentrup's hands, a scattering of broken egg shells become abstract art; a nest of unhatched eggs suggest the possibility and promise of life. Her studies of songbirds and nests are themselves beautifully composed works of color and line."

The Most Perfect Thing: Inside (and Outside) a Bird's Egg

Tim Birkhead

2016

"How are eggs of different shapes made, and why are they the shape they are? When does the shell of an egg harden? Why do some eggs contain two yolks? How are the colours and patterns of an eggshell created, and why do they vary? And which end of an egg is laid first - the blunt end or the pointy end? These are just some of the questions A Bird's Egg answers, as the journey of a bird's egg from creation and fertilisation to its eventual hatching is examined, with current scientific knowledge placed within an historical context. Beginning with an examination of the stunning eggs of the guillemot, each of which is so variable in pattern and colour that no two are ever the same, acclaimed ornithologist Tim Birkhead then looks at the eggs of hens, cuckoos and many other birds, revealing weird and wonderful facts about these miracles of nature. Woven around and supporting these facts are extraordinary stories of the individuals who from as far back as Ancient Egypt have been fixated on the study and collection of eggs, not always to the benefit of their conservation. Firmly grounded in science and enriched by a wealth of observation drawn from a lifetime spent studying birds, A Bird's Egg is an illuminating and engaging exploration of the science behind eggs and the history of man's obsession with them."

Nests, Eggs, & Incubation: New Ideas About Avian Reproduction

Editor: D. C. Deeming, S. J. Reynolds

2016

"Nests, Eggs, and Incubation brings together a global team of leading authorities to provide a comprehensive overview of the fascinating and diverse field of avian reproduction. Starting with a new assessment of the evolution of avian reproductive biology in light of recent research, the book goes on to cover four broad areas: the nest, the egg, incubation, and the study of avian reproduction. New research on nest structures, egg traits, and life history is incorporated, whilst contemporary methodologies such as self-contained temperature probes and citizen science are also discussed. Applied chapters describe how biological knowledge can be applied to challenges such as urbanisation and climate change. The book concludes by suggesting priorities for future research."

The Book of Eggs: A Lifesize Guide to the Eggs of Six Hundred of the World's Bird Species

Mark E. Hauber

Editor: John Bates & Barbara Becker

2014

"Featuring new photography from Chicago renowned Field Museum, The Book of Eggs explores 600 examples at actual size, alongside pattern details, clutch images, breeding range maps, and engravings of all the birds. A table of field-guide information identifies order, family, breeding range, nesting habitat, nest characteristics, and conservation status. This accompanies an expert narrative revealing the latest research and thinking on social structure; reproductive strategies; egg colour, maculation, and size; and incubation behaviour. Arranged taxonomically, according to evolutionary relationships, the book brings to light intriguing aspects of breeding biology. The result is a visual delight and an essential reference for every bird enthusiast, natural historian, and conservationist."

Egg & Nest

Rosamond Purcell, Linnea Hall, Rene Corado

Harvard University Press

2008

"The beauty of the robin's egg is not lost on the child who discovers the nest, nor on the collector of nature's marvels. Such instances of wonder find fitting expression in the photographs of Rosamond Purcell, whose work captures the intricacy of nests and the aesthetic perfection of bird eggs. Mining the ornithological treasures of the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology, Purcell produces pictures as lovely and various as the artifacts she photographs. The dusky blue egg of an emu becomes a planet. A woodpecker's nest bears an uncanny resemblance to a wooden shoe. A resourceful rock dove weaves together scrap metal and spent fireworks. A dreamscape of dancing monkeys emerges from the calligraphic markings of a murre egg. Alongside Purell's photographs, Linnea Hall and Rene Corado offer an engaging history of egg collecting, the provenance of the specimens in the photographs, and the biology, conservation, and ecology of the birds that produced them. They highlight the scientific value for understanding and observing birds in the wild, as well as the aesthetic charge they carry for us.How has evolution shaped the egg or directed the design of the nest? How do the photographs convey such infinitesimal and yet momentous happenstance? The objects in "Egg and Nest" are specimens of natural history, and in Purcell's renderings, they are also the most natural art."

Egg Incubation: Its Effects on Embryonic Development in Birds and Reptiles

Editor: D. Charles Deeming, Mark W. J. Ferguson

2004

"This book reviews comprehensively incubation effects on embryonic development in birds and reptiles and presents the first ever synthesis of data from these two vertebrate classes. The book is in three parts. The first deals with the structure, shape and function of eggs. The second examines the effects of the four main parameters on the process of incubation: temperature, water relations, respiratory gas exchange, and turning. The third section deals with early embryonic development and the methods used to investigate and manipulate the embryo. Further chapters deal with aestivation, megapodes and oviparity. International experts in each field have contributed to this extensively referenced volume and it will be of great interest not only to research biologists, but also to bird and reptile breeders, whether in commercial organisations or in zoos."

Avian Incubation: Behaviour, Environment and Evolution

Editor: D.C. Deeming

2002

"This is the first scientific review of all factors affecting incubation in avian nests. These range from nest construction, egg characteristics and patterns of embryonic development. There is an extensive section describing incubation behaviour of parents and embryos, and there are chapters reviewing brood patch physiology and the various factors determining the incubation environment, including nest microbiology. Another section provides chapters giving detailed descriptions of examples of unusual aspects of avian incubation, whilst the final section provides consideration of the ecological, energetic and fitness cost of incubation. Written by authorities in their respective fields from around the world, this provides a comprehensive review of this critical aspect of avian reproduction. Much of the data included has not been previously published, and so Avian Incubation is not only an extensive reference text but is also a valuable contribution to our basic understanding of incubation."

Contents: D C Deeming: Importance and Evolution of Incubation in Avian reproduction; M H Hansell and D C Deeming: Location Structure and Function of Incubation Sites; D C Deeming: Functional Characteristics of Eggs; D C Deeming: Embryonic Development and Utilisation of Egg Components; C M Vleck: Hormonal Control of Incubation Behaviour; D C Deeming: Behaviour Patterns During Incubation; R B Brua: Parent-Embryo Interactions; R W Lea abd H Klandorf: The Brood Patch; J S Turner: Maintenance of Egg Temperature; A Ar and Y Sidis: Nest Microclimate During Incubation; D C Deeming: Patterns and Significance of Egg Turning; G K Baggott and K Graeme-Cook: Microbiology of Natural Incubation; D T Booth and D N Jones: Underground Nesting in the Megapodes; W A Calder III: Characteristics and Constraints of Incubation in Hummingbirds; F R Handsworth and M A Voss: Intermittent Incubation: Predictions and Tests for Time and Heat Allocations; C Carey: Incubation in Extreme Environments; S G Sealy, D G McMaster and B D Peer: Tactics of Obligate Brood Parasites to Secure Suitable Incubators; P N Hebert: Ecological Factors Affecting Initiation of Incubation Behaviour; T J Underwood and S G Sealy: Adaptive Significance of Egg Colouration; J M Tinbergen and J B Williams: Energetics of Incubation; J Reid, P Monaghan and R Nager: Incubation and the Costs of Reproduction; D C Deeming: Perspectives in Avian Incubation."

Nests, Birds and Incubators: New Insights into Natural and Artificial Incubation

D.C. Deeming

2002

"A leading expert synthesises current research. He provides a great deal of information on incubation to enable breeders to achieve greater success in incubating species as diverse as parrots, raptors and waterfowl. Drawing on research on both natural and artificial egg incubation, carried out on a wide range of species, Deeming discusses such topics as nest structure, egg formation, embryonic development, and behavior of adult birds during incubation, including egg turning."

Avian Egg-Shells: An Atlas of Scanning Electron Micrographs

Konstantin E Mikhailov

1997

"Dr. Mikhailov is based at the Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, and has been investigating avian taxonomy and phylogeny based on the micro-structure of eggshells. Here presented are the results of research on 220 species from 165 genera of non-passeriform birds and 8 genera of fossil birds, forming a representative sample of all modern and five extinct orders. After a description of basic eggshell structure there follows a photographic atlas of SEMs of eggshells, accompanied by explanations of their taxonomic significance. This is the first compilation of its kind and it sheds new light on the relationships between different non-passeriform groups which do not always follow current phylogenies based on DNA or other characters."

Microbiology of the Avian Egg

Editor: V. Fet and K.I. Atamuradov

1994

"There is a marked and most unfortunate dichotomy in the studies of avian eggs and hence in the application of new findings in commerce. Thus over the past twenty years there has been a renewed interest in the contributions of various parts of an egg to embryo development. This is best illustrated by those studies that have explored the diffusion of respiratory gases across the shell and at long last have provided a fundamental definition of a previously nebulous term, porosity. The activity in this general area has led in the past four years to the publication of three major books dealing with many aspects of egg structure, function and embryogenesis. When browsing over these books, two developments are evident. First, the advantages that are to be gained by comparative studies. Thus it is now common to see within a single book articles concerned with the eggs of a range of avian species as well as those of reptiles. Second, it is evident that zoologists and physiologists as well as those employed in large breeding firms are all contributing to an improvement of our knowledge of the egg's role in the breeding biology of birds. Comparative studies are a very uncommon feature of studies concerned with bacterial infection of eggs."

The Avian Egg: Chemistry and Biology

R.W. Burley and D.V. Vadehra

1989

Avian Incubation: Egg Temperature, Nest Humidity, And Behavioral Thermoregulation In A Hot Environment

G. S. Grant

American Ornithologists' Union

1982

A 75 page study.

Contents:

• Introduction
• Study Area
• Materials And Methods
• Timing Of Breeding
• Thermal Biology Of The Egg
• Egg Water Loss And Nest Humidity
• Embryonic Oxygen Consumption
• Effects Of Salt And Mud On Eggs
• Incubation Behavior
• Stilt Clutch Thermoregulation
• Discussion
• Summary

Catalogue of the Collection of Birds' Eggs in the British Museum (Natural History)

Volume V: Carinatae (Passeriformes completed)

W.R. Ogilvie-Grant

Printed By Order Of The Trustees

Printed by Taylor & Francis

1912

Preface:

"The present volume, which brings the Catalogue of Birds' Eggs to a conclusion, has been retarded in its preparation by more than one cause. The principal reason for the delay in its appearance has been the large amount of additional work which was thrown on Mr. W. R. Ogilvie-Grant, the author, by the death of Dr. R. Bowdler Sharpe at the end of 1909. The administration of the Bird Room, the incorporation of large collections and the rearrangement of the material already in hand, the planning of new Expeditions and the conduct of the voluminous correspondence involved by these fresh departures, added to the duty of dealing with the ceaseless stream of enquirers who visit or write to the Bird Room, might in themselves have been sufficient to have filled up all the available time. Mr. Ogilvie-Grant has done his work under considerable difficulties, and the delay has been unavoidable."

Catalogue of the Collection of Birds' Eggs in the British Museum (Natural History)

Volume IV: Carinatae (Passeriformes continued)

Eugene W. Oates

Assisted by Capt. Savile G. Reid

Printed By Order Of The Trustees

Printed by Taylor & Francis

1905

Preface:

"I regret that, owing to the ill-health of Mr. Oates, it has been found necessary to entrust the completion of the Catalogue of Birds' Eggs to other hands. The manuscript prepared by him was in a forward state, and the Trustees have been fortunate in securing the co-operation of a well-known Ornithologist, Capt. Savile Reid, who has revised the manuscript and the proofs. Capt. Reid has also written the Index to the present volume, and has incorporated in the text references to the specimens recently received by the Museum."

Catalogue of the Collection of Birds' Eggs in the British Museum (Natural History)

Volume III: Carinatae (Psittaciformes - Passeriformes)

Eugene W. Oates

Assisted by Capt. Savile G. Reid

Printed By Order Of The Trustees

Printed by Taylor & Francis

1903

Preface:

"I regret that, owing to the ill-health of Mr. Oates, it has been found necessary to entrust the completion of the Catalogue of Birds' Eggs to other hands. The manuscript prepared by him was in a forward state, and the Trustees have been fortunate in securing the co-operation of a well-known Ornithologist, Capt. Savile Reid, who has revised the manuscript and the proofs. Capt. Reid has also written the Index to the present volume, and has incorporated in the text references to the specimens recently received by the Museum."

Catalogue of the Collection of Birds' Eggs in the British Museum (Natural History)

Volume II: Carinatae (Charadriiformes - Stringiformes)

Eugene W. Oates

Printed By Order Of The Trustees

Printed by Taylor & Francis

1902

Preface:

"The number of specimens of eggs enumerated by Mr. Gates in this second volume of his Catalogue is just 15,000. The Crowley Bequest proves from its registration, which has not yet been completed, to have added very largely to the series of eggs in the National Collection, and it has supplied a large number of desiderata. It is especially rich in eggs of Australian birds, of which the Museum had not a good series, and a glance at the following pages will show how important have been the accessions from Mr. Crowley's bequest. As before, the editing of this volume has been undertaken by Dr. Bowdler Sharpe, the Assistant Keeper in charge of the Sub-Department of Vertebrata."

Catalogue of the Collection of Birds' Eggs in the British Museum (Natural History)

Volume I: Ratitae. Carinatae (Tinamiformes - Lariformes)

Eugene W. Oates

Printed By Order Of The Trustees

Printed by Taylor & Francis

1901

From the preface:

"The present volume has been written by Mr. Eugene W. Gates, who is well known to Ornithologists as the Editor of the second edition of Mr. Allan Hume's Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, and as the author of the earlier volumes of the Aves in the Fauna of British India. That he has performed his task conscientiously will be easily perceptible from a perusal of the following pages. The Collection of Birds' Eggs in the British Museum now exceeds a total of 50,000 specimens. It was arranged and labelled some few years ago by Miss Emily Mary Sharpe, under the direction of the late Mr. Henry Seebohm and her father, Dr. Bowdler Sharpe. On that occasion Mr. Seebohm presented to the Trustees the whole of his collection of eggs of Palaearctic Birds, and an opportunity was thus offered of re-arranging the entire series in the Museum. At the same time the valuable donations of Mr, A. 0. Hume, Messrs. Salvin and Godman, Mr. Berkeley James, and other friends of the Museum, were incorporated. The original collection of Birds' eggs in the British Museum was rendered of little worth by the exposure of many precious specimens to the light of the public galleries, and by the mounting of the study collection on wooden tablets. Most of these specimens have perished, or have become so bleached as to bo worthless for purposes of study."