Do killdeer chicks eat their egg shells after hatching?

[tek]

A Killdeer family recently used the side our front walk way
(surrounded by river stones), of our home as a nesting place. My wife
and I watched the process for about fourteen days and then the birds
and the eggs were gone. We have no idea when the Killdeer first
arrived but from my research it takes about 24-28 days to incubate the
eegs then the chicks hatch. We are curious as to what happened to the
egg reminents? Funny, we expected to see parts of the egg shells as
though these were chicken eggs. However, I'm begining to believe the
eggs were more than likely very soft in structure. So, when the chicks
hatched they ate the shell. Is this indeed the case?

[gls858]

Post by tek
A Killdeer family recently used the side our front walk way
(surrounded by river stones), of our home as a nesting place. My wife
and I watched the process for about fourteen days and then the birds
and the eggs were gone. We have no idea when the Killdeer first
arrived but from my research it takes about 24-28 days to incubate the
eegs then the chicks hatch. We are curious as to what happened to the
egg reminents? Funny, we expected to see parts of the egg shells as
though these were chicken eggs. However, I'm begining to believe the
eggs were more than likely very soft in structure. So, when the chicks
hatched they ate the shell. Is this indeed the case?

Much more likely the nest was raided by a predator. Snake being a likely
suspect sine the nest is on the ground and no shell was found. They
swallow the eggs whole. Doesn't mean I'm right, but I've had snakes
empty my blue box before.

gls858

[tek]

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[Les Stewart]

Post by tek
A Killdeer family recently used the side our front walk way
(surrounded by river stones), of our home as a nesting place. My wife
and I watched the process for about fourteen days and then the birds
and the eggs were gone. We have no idea when the Killdeer first
arrived but from my research it takes about 24-28 days to incubate the
eegs then the chicks hatch. We are curious as to what happened to the
egg reminents? Funny, we expected to see parts of the egg shells as
though these were chicken eggs. However, I'm begining to believe the
eggs were more than likely very soft in structure. So, when the chicks
hatched they ate the shell. Is this indeed the case?

From a quick Google search:

"After hatching, egg-shells are routinely carried away from the nest in most
bird species (Welty and Baptista 1988)."

http://www.orientalbirdclub.org/publications/forktail/19pdfs/Sundar-Sarus.pdf