Banded stilts fly hundreds of kilometres to lay eggs that are over 50% of their body mass
Submitted by Chickowee on 19 Oct 2017.
The hot, dry Australian desert may not come to mind as an ideal location for waterbirds to breed, but some species wait years for the opportunity to do just that.
New research has shed light on one of Australia’s most enigmatic birds, the banded stilt. This pigeon-sized shorebird has long been a source of intrigue due to its bizarre and extreme breeding behaviour. They fly hundreds or thousands of kilometres from coastal wetlands to lay eggs that are 50-80% of their body mass in normally dry inland desert salt lakes, such as Lake Eyre, on the rare occasions they are inundated by flooding rain.
