The world's heaviest flying bird, the Great Bustard, has laid its first eggs in Britain in 175 years, conservationists who re-introduced the species here said.
The Great Bustard Group (GBG) said a female of the species, which can weigh up to 40 pounds (18.1 kilogrammes) and has a wing span of up to eight feet (2.4 metres), laid two eggs earlier this year in Wiltshire, south-west England.
But although the eggs were incubated, abandoned and later found to be infertile, GBG director David Walters said it was a major achievement and signs that a breeding programme, first started nine years ago, was working.
"It had been thought 2008 would be the first year that nesting activity would be seen and it is a tremendous boost to have this happening earlier," he said in a statement released Monday.
"Although males were seen displaying to females this spring, it is understood that males have to be about five years old before they can breed."
It is thought the eggs were infertile because the male had not reached maturity.
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