Even Inside Their Eggs, Bird Embryos Are Listening

By Roni Dengler
Jul 26, 2019 12:00 PMDec 23, 2019 3:55 AM
Sandpiper Eggs in Nest - Shutterstock
Sandpiper eggs in a nest. (Credit: Drakuliren/Shutterstock)

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The speckled brown eggs of seabirds may look like lifeless lumps of shell, but inside, developing chicks are already paying attention to their parents. Researchers studying yellow-legged gull chicks have discovered that the animals can respond to their parents’ alarm calls while in the egg and even pass on the information to younger nestmates by rattling their shells. 

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