WASHINGTON, July 28 The National Zoo in Washington is using data collected from electronic eggs to help save threatened birds.
A telemetric egg -- placed in the nest of a kori bustard earlier this year after she laid her eggs -- contained sensors that record temperatures on four quadrants of the egg's surface as well as in the egg's interior, the Smithsonian said Friday in a release.
Motion detectors record how frequently the mother turns the egg during incubation. The zoo uses the information to mimic natural incubation in a controlled setting in the lab.
Four chicks of the threatened African bird have hatched in June and July.
"It's really a breakthrough. This is data we couldn't get any other way," said National Zoo biologist Sara Hallager.
Telemetric eggs have been used for whooping cranes at the Calgary Zoo in Alberta, Canada, and for waterfowl at the Saint Louis Zoo, the Smithsonian said.
The National Zoo also has two telemetric eggs in flamingo nests.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
