Did you know that female birds lay eggs because if they didn’t, they wouldn’t be able to fly? Their aerial mobility comes at the cost of entrusting their little one to an external container. But, no worries, eggs are much tougher than they look! For example, your average chicken egg has a compressive strength of about 100 pounds or 45 kilos.

For female hornbills, parenting really is a 24-hour job. That is because they seal themselves off in the nest to keep the little ones safe. The only opening is a small hole that the male uses to feed her and the chicks.

Some parents just can’t be bothered, and that is definitely the case of the pin-tailed whydah. This African bird lays eggs in the nests of finches. Unlike some brood parasites, this one doesn’t destroy all other eggs in the nest, but instead sticks around, and the finches have a slightly funny-looking long-tailed sibling.

Crying babies, or chicks, can be a bit of a hassle, but can you imagine if they cried before even being born or, in this case, hatched? That is what poor American white pelican moms have to deal with! Their chicks cry from inside the egg to keep them posted on whether they are too hot or too cold.

Proper nutrition is crucial for a chick to grow up happy and healthy, and that means white-winged choughs have their work cut out for them. These birds live off a diet of beetles that are pretty hard to find. That is why a total of four white-winged chough adults are needed to feed a single little one!