Q 01/05

An ostrich egg weighs about 1.4 kilograms. Roughly how many chicken eggs is that equivalent to?

A) Over 5

B) Over 12

C) Over 20

D) Over 40

Answer · why

C) Over 20

Despite the size, ostrich eggs are actually the smallest of any bird relative to the mother, at 1 to 4 percent of her body weight.

Q 02/05

Which New Zealand bird lays an egg weighing up to a quarter of its body weight?

A) Kakapo

B) Kea

C) Takahe

D) Kiwi

Answer · why

D) Kiwi

A brown kiwi's single egg can weigh 450 grams; the bird's flightlessness means body weight is no obstacle to carrying it.

Q 03/05

Which bird lays the smallest egg of any living species, weighing about half a gram?

A) Common goldcrest

B) Bee hummingbird

C) Eurasian wren

D) Zebra finch

Answer · why

B) Bee hummingbird

At the other extreme sits the ostrich's 1.5-kilogram egg, and the shape and size across species tracks the size of the adult bird.

Q 04/05

The largest egg ever recorded, at 30 by 14 by 9 centimetres, came from which animal?

A) Elephant bird

B) Whale shark

C) Leatherback turtle

D) Saltwater crocodile

Answer · why

B) Whale shark

They usually hatch inside the mother; the ostrich still holds the record among living birds, though extinct elephant birds and some dinosaurs beat it.

Q 05/05

What determines whether a hen lays white or brown eggs, according to a widely cited rule of thumb?

A) The colour of her feathers

B) The colour of her earlobes

C) Her age in months

D) Her diet of corn or wheat

Answer · why

B) The colour of her earlobes

The brown pigment is protoporphyrin IX, a precursor of heme, and shell colour has no effect on taste or quality.