That round object in the picture is actually a bird’s feather follicle mass, often called a feather ball. Here’s what’s going on: • Birds naturally lose and regrow feathers. Sometimes, instead of falling away, feathers can get caught under the skin or become ingrown, causing a clump-like mass to form. • What you’re holding looks like a compacted cluster of feathers that either sloughed off naturally or was pushed out of a bird’s body (sometimes after death or predation). • It’s not an egg, seed, or fungus—though at first glance it really looks like one. The smooth, glossy outer surface is actually feather shafts tightly packed together. In short: it’s a natural clump of bird feathers, likely shed or expelled, that compacted into a ball shape.