4 Out of the Norm Nest Builders

Are you any good at crafting stuff? Cause I am not. And that is why I find these teeny-tiny birds pretty interesting. Let me know if you think the same.

1.   Weaverbirds

“Weave your way to the dream girl’s heart”

Said no man ever, but it’s quite the talk in the weaver world. Have you ever tried to weave anything? It looks like something that takes someone with two good hands and an equally good brain to do, right? Or, a pair of feet and a strong beak!

Weaver Birds are mostly known for their amazing weaving skills. Male weavers weave their nests with grass and other plant fibers using their feet to hang from the tree and beak to weave the nest. They take about 7 days to build this long-hanging nest with a bulbous chamber and a tiny tube entrance. And all of this to attract a female. It’s their way of showing how husband material they are. The female bird does not take part in the nest-building, instead, she watches how it turns out. And if she likes the nest, she goes in, but if she doesn’t like how the nest looks, then she rejects the male’s courting; talk about gold-digging……nest-digging? Whatever, you get the point.

There are many species of weaver birds found in Africa and Asia and most of their nests have a narrow entrance on the downside of the nest to avoid the predators from entering their nests.

The majority of species create solitary love nests, but some, like the African sparrow weavers, weave aggregate nests with hundreds of other weaver bird pairs.

FUN FACT: It is believed that weaver birds stick fireflies on their nests to light up the nest at night.

2.   Bowerbirds

Ever go looking for good architects or interior designers? Well, give these bower bird’s a call. Exclusive for Australia and New Guinea though since they are native to those countries. Bower birds are widely known for the grand performance they put out to attract mates, but the nest they build is equally grand. These birds are world-class decorators.

Their nests are called bowers and they are built on the ground. These bowers could either be Avenues or maypoles. Bowers are made of twigs and many bright-colored things they find in their surroundings. Bower birds nowadays collect ribbons, straws, bottle or tonic lids, and other colorful stuff. And we think THEY are outdated!

There are many species of bowerbirds, also. One quite fascinating bower bird is the satin bowerbird and he is known for his love for the color blue. You could see many objects in many shades of blue around their bowers.

3. Penduline tits 

Don’t let the name scare you. These are skillful birds found in Europe and Asia that make pendulous pear-shaped nests. These nests are strung from twigs and branches in trees and are made of spider web, wool, animal hair, and soft plant materials. The male birds start building the nest in a safe place, preferably above water, and the female completes the nest. Teamwork makes the dream work, right? These nests look very soft (kinda look like sugar candy) and must be very comfy inside. Some penduline tit species even create a false entrance that opens to a false chamber to throw off predators.

4. Ovenbird

What a strange way to name a bird, right? They got this name because of the domed-oven-looking nest they make. These birds take nest-building to the next level. They make their nests using mud. They add pellets of mud and smooth them out to make sure the nest won’t collapse. They build the entrance near the branch but not directly over the branch; another technique to protect the eggs from predators. They also create chambers inside the nest.

FUN FACT: Ovenbirds are songbirds that make a sound that comes out like “teacher, teacher, teacher”

Now that was just four of the types of birds that create mind-blowing nests that are pretty different from the norms. Of course, there are a lot more, but this is it for today. But make sure to share your ideas and knowledge with us. See you soon…. Write to you soon? I’ll work on that. Until next time!

By Dinithi Jayarathne