Not camouflage, but chemical glue, according to ScienceNOW 20 August 2005. Speckles and spots on birds’ eggs are generally considered to be a means of disguising eggs from predators but, as explained in a brief item: “Bird eggs may not just be speckled for camouflage. Researchers have found that the dark reddish spots occur where the shell is thin. Moreover, eggshells weigh less – and are more pigmented – when calcium, a key shell ingredient, is less abundant in soil. This suggests that protoporphyrin, a pigment found in avian blood, fills in as a shell substitute where calcium is scarce, researchers report online 15 August in Ecology Letters.”
Editorial Comment: Evolutionary theory, which explains things in terms of competition and predator-prey relationships, is claimed to be the only theory that explains biological characteristics, but it failed this time. Instead of avoiding predators in the war of nature, speckled eggs are a good example of a well designed method of ensuring that birds are able to produce strong eggshells even when there is not enough calcium available, i.e. a back-up system. Back-up systems are good evidence for plan and purpose, not chance random processes. In the original good world that God created there was no need for camouflage, because there were no predators (Genesis 1:29-31). (Ref. design, back-up, pigmentation)