Comment on “Ecological importance of the thermal emissivity of avian eggshells”

Eggshell emissivity must be known to determine accurately the cooling rate of avian eggs when the parent, after heating by conduction during the incubation, is temporarily absent. We estimate possible values of eggshell emissivities from in-situ measurements and spectral libraries. Emissivity is near to 1 (probably higher than 0.95) and therefore its effect on cooling rate may be negligible, with differences between the temperature of the egg assuming a value of ε=0.95 and that of a blackbody (ε=1) below 0.2 °C.