To study how host birds, such as the American robin, reject brood parasite eggs, scientists have relied on making fake eggs. That could be eggs taken from another bird (problematic, also limited sizes and shapes) or eggs hand made from plaster or wood (not hollow and not realistic). A possible solution then? 3D printing.
In a paper published in PeerJ, scientists described how to 3D-print hollow eggs of plastic filled with water. The eggs can then painted to give them the right color: blue for robin’s eggs, white for cowbird’s. 3D printing makes it easier to create fake eggs on demand and also continuously tinker with size and shape.
Initial tests show the 3D-printed eggs stack up pretty well against other out-dated alternatives.
via Gizmodo
Image:Igic et al/ Peer J
