Quail eggs are like fingerprints, a new study suggests. The
creamy blue-and-brown speckled eggs, splashed like a toddler's
art project, vary among birds but are consistently patterned for
individuals. What's more, in a laboratory experiment, quail
camouflaged their eggs according to their personal pattern,
picking lighter sand for less-speckled eggs and darker sand for
eggs with more brown splotches. What surprised researchers was
the discovery that quail changed their approach to camouflage as
their eggs got darker. "It's as if they knew the characteristics
of their own eggs and chose the best substrate with which to lay
them," said George Lovell, lead study author and an expert on
animal camouflage at Abertay University and the University of
St. Andrews in Scotland. Sitting at the bottom of the food
chain, with a spot on just about every predator's dinner menu,
quail and their eggs need good hiding places. In the experiment,
quail could lay clutches in sand with white, yellow, red or
black hues. Researchers