"Great horned owls find their voice while they are still doubled over in the dark of their moon-shaped egg. Having punctured the small air cell inside the egg’s membrane with their budding beak, the proto-owlets inflate their lungs and start chittering."
A perfect addition to the large (2000+ entry) things you wouldn't know subcategory because not only did I now know it, but it's something I wouldn't have imagined. I had understood that the developing chick can hear the parent's calls while still inside the egg, but wouldn't have expected it possible for them to vocalize there. More information at The Atlantic.
I think I learned that in recently reading the "What an Owl Knows" book by Jennifer Ackerman? A great read, if you want to learn more about owls.
ReplyDeleteThe book you read is reviewed in The Atlantic link.
DeleteThat's true of most chicks!
ReplyDeleteSo much so that the conservationists overseeing the kakapo brooding season use it: when they have chicks to place (because the mother isn't feeding them properly eg) they give the prospective foster mother dummy eggs that start chirping to prepare her to the sudden apparition of a chick in the nest :) https://www.doc.govt.nz/our-work/kakapo-recovery/what-we-do/technology/