Birds’ Nests

A nest is a place where animals, but mainly birds, lay their eggs and live.

A nest can be on the ground, in a tree, on top of a pole, on cliff ledges, or in a nook in a building. Nests can be anywhere.

Nests can be made from any type of materials, such as sticks, twigs, feathers, mud, grass, bark, and leaves. Ducks, for example, make their nest from feathers that they pluck from their own chests.

bird

nest of twigs

Some male and female birds make the nest together. In some species of birds, only the female makes the nest, while in other species, only the male makes the nest.

The bird that makes the nest is called the nester. A baby chick that cannot fly yet is called a nestling.

stork

this stork is a nester

Some birds keep the same nest for all of their life, repairing the nest when needed. Other birds change nests each time they lay eggs. The cuckoo does not make a nest. Instead, the cuckoo lays its eggs in another bird’s nest.

Not only birds have nests. There are turtle nests, snake nests, salmon nests, and ant nests, for example.

nest

nest of twigs

nest

nest of grass and leaves

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nest protected by thorns

bird

sparrow collecting dry grass to build a nest

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nest box

 

 

Photographer: Martina Nicolls

Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM

 

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