How Do Birds Make Their Nests?

We see them go from here to there carrying twigs and assembling their houses for their own shelter, that of their partner and their children. Each species manufactures them differently depending on their size, their needs or the number of eggs that the female will lay. In this article we will tell you how birds make their nests. An arduous but fundamental task.

How Birds Make Their Nest: Learnings

Although this work has a great instinctual component, the truth is that birds also build their nests thanks to what they learn. Beyond the genetic component that they carry through evolution, birds have been modifying their techniques according to their own or close experience.

In addition, as the years go by and, having manufactured several shelters, they make fewer mistakes: they  make them more resistant, less visible or more comfortable. Birds have been seen ‘playing’ in abandoned nests, which in addition to serving as their own construction material, are an example of what to do – and what not to do – in the manufacture of your home.

And something else that is worth noting: some male birds strive to create the most beautiful, cozy and spacious nests to attract the females, which choose a partner based on the home they offer.

What and how do birds make their nests?

The design of the nests is related to the resistance, the weight of the inhabitants, the technique they use to go unnoticed or the habitat where they are found. It will also depend on the materials they have around them and the habits of the couple, such as whether they hunt together or share the task of incubating the eggs.

One of the things that most attracts our attention about the nests is that they are mostly circular. .. Why this ‘choice’? Because the sphere is the most stable geometric shape that exists. It is not that the birds have gone to school and learned it in class, but that nature and years of evolution have provided them with that information.

In this way, the nests support the weight of the eggs – and later the chicks – and the adults, in addition to inclement weather such as snow, wind or rain.

On the other hand, we can make a distinction between terrestrial and aquatic bird nests. In the first case, the simplicity or complexity will depend on the species and habitat, while  waterfowl should pay more attention to processing, since currents and contact with water can break nests faster.

Even some species do not make nests, but take advantage of the spaces that include: holes in the steep walls or tree trunks, sand from the beach or among the reeds from the edge of the river.

How do birds make their nests? Materials

Animals take advantage of everything they have around them to create a home and shelter for their young, and for themselves. The main building materials are of the plant type: branches, grasses, leaves, algae, lichens or moss.

They can also use clay, as does the baker or the swallow, and even animal remains such as feathers, skin or hair. Did you know that geese and ducks use their down and that cormorants use their droppings to shape the nest? In the case of birds that live in cities or near human populations, they can use paper, nails, string, plastics, etc.

The choice of these materials will depend on their availability and the need, since  the thicker branches serve to structure the nest, and the feathers or leaves to give shelter and warmth to the eggs and chicks.

Although many birds nest in trees because the branches provide them with a base structure, they also do so to prevent predators from removing their eggs. For this reason, eagles and raptors also have their homes at the top of the mountain, where other animals do not reach.