From sciencedaily.com:
This is an important summer for kori bustards at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. Four chicks of this threatened African bird have hatched in June and July. Along with the bumper crop of baby birds is a bumper crop of new information for scientists working to preserve the species, thanks to an electronic egg that transmits real-time incubation data from the nest.
Kori bustard chicks A biologist at Smithsonians National Zoo holds two kori bustard chicks on June 26, 2007. The chicks, Pipe and Tuza, hatched at the Zoo June 23 and 24. Kori bustards are the worlds heaviest flying bird and the chicks could grow to be as large as 35 pounds. The species, native to eastern and southern Africa is in decline and faces threats to its survival. The National Zoo is one of two zoos in the nation consistently breeding kori bustards in hopes of guaranteeing a secure future for them. The telemetric egg, placed in the nest after the mother has laid her eggs, contains sensors that record temperatures on four quadrants of the egg’s surface as well as in the egg’s interior. Motion detectors record how frequently the mother turns the egg during incubation. The data are recorded 24 hours a day and downloaded to a computer every 48 hours. National Zoo staff use the information to mimic natural incubation in a controlled setting in the lab.
