"Meet me, Antarctica!" Ukrainian polar explorers filmed a baby Dominican gull that "drilled" a hole in an egg shell
A baby boom continues near the Ukrainian Antarctic station Akademik Vernadsky. In addition to the births of seals and penguin pups, polar explorers have recorded a revival in the nests of Dominican martins.
Ukrainian researchers have seen a baby martin "drill" a small hole in an egg shell and try to look at the world through it. The unique video was shared on the National Antarctic Science Center's Facebook page by Tetiana Bahlai, a biologist with the 29th UAE, who filmed this amazing footage while working on the Three Little Pigs Antarctic Islands.
"Meet me, Antarctica!" the chick seems to be saying as it pokes its beak out of the egg, polar researcher Tetiana Bahlai wrote in a post under the video.
The chick wants to crack the eggshell to see the world.
Source: Screenshot
The video clearly shows that the baby Dominican Martins are already poking a hole in the shell to come out, the biologist says. "It will expand the hole, the egg will crack, and the baby will slowly free itself from its temporary home. This process takes more than an hour," said Bahlai.
Ukrainian researchers say that Dominican gulls build nests and incubate their babies in the vicinity of the Akademik Vernadsky station. According to the biologists, newborns are covered with thick gray-brown fluff and have the same specks on their heads as on the egg.
Dominican martin chicks are as mottled as their eggs.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/AntarcticCenter
Typically, a pair of martins lays 2-3 olive-colored eggs, about 5 cm in size. Hatching lasts up to a month, and the chicks take turns hatching, Ukrainian researchers say.
Dominican gulls take care of their chicks even after they learn to fly.
Source: facebook.com/AntarcticCenter
"Both parents take care of the eggs and the chicks. They feed the young even after the stronger chicks start flying, which happens approximately 7 weeks after birth," the Vernadsky polar explorers said. After another 50-60 days, young gulls become completely independent, the biologists added.
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