Staunton News Leader, VA – Jun 7, 2014
YuLee Larner
Columnist
Nest building by birds is just one of the small wonders of this world, with each species choosing certain materials and designs, different from all others.
The method of construction, using only their bill and feet, is enough to boggle our minds.
The killdeer simply scrapes a shallow saucer on the ground, usually in a graveled area, so the eggs are difficult to see.
Some birds build their nests high in treetops, others build nests that float on the water and many species nest in hollow trees.
Pendulous nests, woven by orioles, hang from tips of tree branches.
Mourning doves’ nests are so flimsy that eggs or young may fall through the holes in the bottom.
Hummingbird nests are about the size of a marshmallow, made of soft materials, held together with spider webs covered on the outside with lichens, and placed on top of a tree branch. Bald eagles may build a nest up to 20 feet deep and 10 feet across.
Several species build in bluebird boxes: Bluebirds use fine grass or pine needles; chickadees choose green moss; titmice use soft white materials; house wrens fill the box with twigs; and tree swallow nests are identified by several feathers arched over the top. In our area they use chicken or turkey feathers, while in coastal areas, they use white gull feathers.
From the Audubon Society “Encyclopedia of North American Birds,” by John K. Terres, here is a bit of bird-nest trivia.
A barn swallow may make as many as 1,200 trips carrying mud to build one nest.
At least 30 species, usually those that nest in cavities, include a piece of cast-off snakeskin, but will substitute cellophane or onion skin.
Some birds use manmade material, such as canyon wrens which built a nest entirely of office supplies, on the beam of an office in California. It contained paper clips, straight pins, safety pins, rubber bands, thumbtacks, rawhide shoelaces, a darning needle, paper fasteners, insulated wire, matches, toothpicks and other materials, for a total of 1,791 countable items. The nest weighed 21¼2 pounds!
Given 1,282 items to work with, including grasses, grapevine bark, candy wrappers, cigarette filters, cellophane, Kleenex, cotton, thread, and 28 feathers, could you build a bird nest? A house sparrow did in Chapel Hill, N.C., in 1964! Yes, somebody counted.
