Bird Egg with Baby Bird

Updated information: September 2016:

Electron microscope tests identified the elements in the eggshell, proving beyond doubt the egg's originality. A detailed look at the edge of the eggshell shows it to be significantly weathered, with minerals leached out of it. This would suggest that the inclusion was formed some time after the egg hatching. Also, the large piece shows a clear solid stalactite form of original resin flow, free of any inclusions. It is the latter flows that include the baby bird remnants - but also insects that do feed on carcasses. Birds are born without feathers - this one has a lot of young, immature feathers on the pieces of skin. So it is safe to conclude at this time that the bird was actually hatched, living for some time before its tragic end and entombing in resin. It appears that this was a baby hummingbird.

This was written up last year from the International Amber Association.

People always want to see the impossible. We are more than happy to supply the remedy for that desire. Here it is: the remnants of a bird egg with the scattered body parts of the baby bird, including feathers, egg shell and a lot of indistinguishable material. There are a number of pieces of amber with various components of the egg, including the actual egg shell, feathers and a few bones.

The baby bird egg was found in the La Bucara mine in the Dominican Republic in 2009. It is an unbelievable sight - one of a kind specimen. So much so that this has never been seen in the amber world before, and I doubt if it ever will be seen again. It is a shocking piece when you think about the story behind the amber.

I will take a wild guess and give you the story that seems reasonable with the baby bird. The egg was a 'normal' sized egg for what we see in modern birds. There were probably a number of eggs in the nest. The mother flew off for some reason and the nest was vandalized by an unknown predator. Now-a-days, it might be something like a racoon or similar mammal. The animal must have had a feast on the many delicious nest of eggs. The last one was not eaten completely, but must have dropped into a puddle of tree resin. In this drop were egg fragments, a few bones and some of the actual body of the half eaten bird. The resin, bones and shell were covered with more resin and this formed the piece that we presently have, 24 million years later.

Feathers are so rare in amber that they command a enormous price.Just think about the egg, feathers and body parts of a baby bird.I still find it hard to believe that we were lucky enough to come up with a specimen like this. I cannot impress anyone enough abou t the rarity of this find. Fun, exciting, unbelievable, shiver down the spine, are some of the adjectives that come to mind when I think about a description of this beauty.

I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures as much as I had taking them. I do realize that this is not a 'casual' purchase for anyone, but everyone can enjoy the pictures. We would be more than happy to answer any questions you have about this unbelievable find.


I am not trained in Ornithology nor reconstructive paleontology. I looks at these pictures and marvel, but without a great amount of knowledge as to what I am looking at. Of course, I can recognize egg fragments and feathers. When you look more closely at things like ribs and arms (wings) I start to get lost. So you will see here many pictures of items that I am just not sure what they are - but they are significant.




Here are some images taken (these are really good images):

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Now here are the scanned images of all the pieces:

In 2013 there was a presentation of one of the first papers on this baby bird's egg.  I took some pictures of the actual presentation:

OK, now take a breath and look at the price of this impossible find - probably the most valuable piece of amber in the world. You will never find anything like this in your lifetime. My email is lundberg@ambericawest.com - feel free to inquire. This specimen is currently on loan to the University of Warsaw.

 

$79,000.00

 

This has been removed and is no longer for sale.

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