Biology
Parental Investment and Egg Size Variation in Precocial Birds
Quick fact
In precocial birds like ducks, a single extra gram of egg mass can increase a chick's chance of survival by up to 20%, yet mothers often lay smaller eggs when food is scarce, a trade-off that balances offspring quality with the number of eggs.
Why this is interesting
Have you ever wondered why a chicken's egg is so much bigger than a quail's egg, even though both are 'birds'? The answer isn't just about body size—it reveals a hidden strategy of how much care parents invest before the chick even hatches.