Not quite home: Nests and Avian Architecture

Woven nests: Village Weavers (Rwanda)

Birds are consumers in their environments beyond food; they use space, plant material, mud, spider silk, mammal hair, rocks, and other materials to construct their nests. In some cases birds construct other structures, like bowers or food stores.

Tufted Titmouse with nesting material (they nest in holes per Cornell University)

According to Avian Architecture, by Peter Goodfellow, the vast majority of birds do not live in their nest, although there are exceptions. The primary function of the nest is to contain eggs for protection and incubation, and then for many species, for raising the young until they can fledge (defined by the book as growing feathers and being able to fly). For many other species, the young are born from the egg with feathers and without a need for parental care. Nests are then often abandoned or perhaps reclaimed the following breeding season.

Cup nest: Chipping Sparrow (Kansas, USA)

The colorful lives of tanagers

Bay-headed Tanager (Tangara gyrola) near Maquipucuna Reserve, Ecuador

If you can see them, tanagers will make your eyes pop.

A migrant’s hello from Ecuador

Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra)
near Santa Lucia Bosque Nublado, Ecuador

My favorite time of year in New York was always the first two weeks of May. Early mornings before work, afternoons after work, and pretty much every minute of the weekends were spent combing Central Park for migratory birds that were passing through on their way to their breeding grounds.

The joy of a new bird

Sometimes a seemingly boring little bird can be the highlight of your day.

Toucans, Barbets, and the Toucan Barbet

Collared Araçari (Pteroglossus torquatus),
near Maquipucuna Reserve, Ecuador

I can. You can. Toucan.