Birders
Related: About this forumFemale Hummingbird eating fire ash to get calcium for egg production
Photo: Tony Markle
I report five observations of nesting female hummingbirds evidently eating the powdery, white component of wood ash. The observed species included Broad-tailed, Blue-throated, Costa's and Anna's Hummingbirds. Each bird was attending a nest. Males were never observed engaged in this behavior. Wood ash contains surprising amounts of Calcium in the form of CaO which comprises between 50-75% of the total ash. Lacking medullary bone, hummingbirds eating ashes may be replenishing Calcium lost to egg production.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262376945_Hummingbirds_Eating_Ashes
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4514314
AllaN01Bear
(23,281 posts)cyclonefence
(4,884 posts)Thanks.
Tetrachloride
(8,482 posts)We crushed the egg shells a bit and tossed them in the pen.
It would be interesting to know if other birds were as thrilled.
dickthegrouch
(3,576 posts)The students had to create a device to throw three chicken eggs at a target and have them stay without breaking. They were allowed quite a bit of latitude on how to protect the eggs.
One group went to an egg farm and asked if there was any way to harden the shells. They were told some of the hens were fed ground shells from shell fish especially oysters and clams. They bought a gross of the eggs and set to designing their apparatus.
I never found out the commercial reason for hardening the shells but their creative bending of the rules was only partially successful. As I remember only two of their eggs stayed on the test bed, one surface of which was slanted.
https://www.thetech.org/education/the-tech-challenge/past-challenges/
Asteroids Rock was the specific challenge I was part of the judging team for.