Spring is the busiest time for birds as territorial battles, attracting a mate, nest-building, egg-laying and chick-raising occupy nearly every waking moment.
Bird nests are incredibly diverse and sometimes very complex, all put together with beak and feet.
Nests are built to lay and protect eggs and chicks from weather and predators, although they can also help attract a mate.
Bird nests are built in nearly every habitat on Earth, from Antarctica ice to tropical caves. Sites include high up in trees or in low bushes, narrow ledges on high cliffs, in a tree fork, bare ground, a hole in a tree or on human structures, such as under a bridge, in a hanging flower basket, channel markers or even an old shoe.
Greater flamingoes nest in colonies, building circular mounds 12-14 inches high and 1 foot across, with a depression for one egg. The horned coot in the Andres piles up stones in shallow water, topped by vegetation, creating a nesting site just above the waterline.
Hummingbirds weave spider webs into the nests to help stick the nest to the tree or to attach items such as lichen to help camouflage the nest. Kingfishers burrow 3- to 6-feet-long nesting tunnels into dirt or sand banks near water. Bank swallows nest in colonies in dirt or sand banks.
Great blue herons nest in large colonies. The male gathers sticks, the female weaves a platform and creates a lined nest cup. Some nests have been remodeled for years, sometimes reaching 4 feet across and almost as deep.
Here are some other interesting nest facts:
■ Some nests are built by the male, by both birds, and sometimes by apparent negotiation between the future parents. Or some species simply take over another bird’s nest.
■ Gyrfalcons often use their nest sites on rocky ledges for generations, taking re-use to an extreme. A carbon-dated thick pile of guano revealed a 2,500-year-old nesting on a cliff in Greenland, a site that is still in use. At another site, a feather came from a falcon about 675 years ago.
■ The Australian malleefowl holds the Guinness world record for the largest nest: 15 feet high and 35 feet across. Its nest-building operation is worth checking out on the internet.
■ Burrowing owls only use already dug burrows for their nests.
■ Great horned owls use nests built by other species.
■ Nests placed on the ground usually contain eggs matching the color of rocks or dead plant material.
■ Bald eagles use their nests year after year, improving as they go. The largest eagle’s nest weighed about 2 tons and was about 20 feet deep. More typical nests, after years of use, can weight more than a ton.
■ Piping plovers make shallow depressions on the beach and use a few twigs. Despite the lack of coverage, their nests can still be hard to spot because they are so well-camouflaged.
■ Cowbirds don’t expend energy building nests; they use nests of other birds.
■ Screech-owls use cavities that other birds or critters have hollowed out.
■ The sociable weavers (that is its name) of Africa create huge apartment complex-like nests with thatched roofs.
■ African hamerkops work hard and long to build their nest in the fork of a tree. The industrious couple take about two months and about 10,000 twigs (does anyone really count those twigs?), lined with mud for insulation. Proving that they are true workaholics, the pair builds up to four nests a year whether they are breeding or not.
Reminder: It is illegal to destroy, possess or sell bird eggs, nests, parts and feathers of any bird native to or migrating within North America, according to the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
My mother didn’t know that when she sent a small cup nest from Maryland to her daughter 3,000 miles away to put on the Christmas tree.
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or songandword@rockisland.com.
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