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.
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.
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 of twigs
nest of grass and leaves
nest protected by thorns
sparrow collecting dry grass to build a nest
nest box
Photographer: Martina Nicolls
Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM