Abstract
A nest of European Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria with all blue eggs lacking cryptic mottling
Highlights
In the case reported here I discovered the nest at a distance of at least ten to fifteen meters because I got sight of the eggs in spite of having my attention primarily on counting birds in general
From that it can perhaps be concluded that biliverdin and protoporphyrin were fixed as the both necessary and sufficient egg pigments at a very early stage of reptile–bird evolution
As mollusc shells are calcareous and have a great colourful variation – both these properties the same as in birds – it has been found that only protoporphyrin, not biliverdin, is responsible for the colour variation among molluscs (Verdes et al 2015)
Summary
In the case reported here I discovered the nest at a distance of at least ten to fifteen meters because I got sight of the eggs in spite of having my attention primarily on counting birds in general. The eggs lay undisturbed in the nest cup with no sign of damage, indicating that the predator was most probably a bird, Gyrfalcon being the most likely guess. I have not approached any egg-collecting museums but one, the Swedish Museum of Natural History at Stockholm.
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