CHARACTERISTICS OF BIRD EGGSHELL COLORATION DEPENDING ON NEST LOCATION

Abstract

Based on the analysis of egg collections of different ecological groups of birds and various literature sources, a summary of scientific studies on morphological adaptations related to the color of eggshells in birds is given. Eggshell color in birds is a morphological adaptation with a masking function that depends on nesting conditions. The article examines egg collections of birds with an open nesting type: Eurasian skylark (ground-nesting), Eurasian chaffinch (crown-nesting), and Red-backed shrike (bush-nesting). The study confirmed the high variability of eggshell color in birds with an open nesting type, which allows clutches to be invisible which contributes to successful nesting. The correlation between the location of the nest and the color of the eggshells of the studied bird species was analyzed, and the peculiarities of this correlation were determined.