La Tour du Valat

Institut de recherche pour la conservation des zones humides méditerranéennes

Titre :	European Nuthatch Sitta europaea incubates a snail shell
Auteurs :	Torsten Blohm, Auteur ; Heino Hauf, Auteur
Type de document :	Article
Dans :	Vogelwelt (Die) (134(4) 2013)
Article en page(s) :	263-264
Résumé :	A female European Nuthatch was found incubating on a shell of a White-lipped Snail Cepaea hortensis in a nestbox in the Uckermark southwest of Prenzlau (Brandenburg, Northeast Germany), whilst the male was alarming nearby. The female was found incubating the 'clutch' on 5th and 17th of May 2007. There have been no eggs or remnants of eggs in the nest. The shell was a little bit larger than a normal Nuthatch egg. The female Nuthatch had a brood patch and the snail shell was warm on both days. On the 18th of May, the nest was probably deserted. Other cases of bird species incubating foreign eggs or other items like stones or matchboxes are summarised and discussed. However, the described case is unique with respect to the fact, that exclusively the snail shell was incubated by the Nuthatch without having own eggs in the nest.

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