Nest

A nest is place of refuge built to hold an animal's eggs and/or provide a place to raise their offspring. They are usually made of some organic material such as twigs, grass, and leaves; or may simply be a depression in the ground, or a hole in a tree, rock or building. Sometimes available human made materials such as string, plastic, cloth, hair, paper ect. may be used as well.

Generally each species has a distinctive style of nest. Nests can be found in many different habitats.

Nests are built primarily by birds, but also by mammals, fish, insects and reptiles.

They may have some or all of the following zones: attachment; outer decorative layer; structural layer; lining.

Some birds will build nests in trees, some (such as vultures, eagles, and many seabirds like Kittiwakes) will build them on rocky ledges, and others nest on the ground or in burrows.

An eagle's nest is also called an eyrie.

There are eight mutually exclusive nest shapes:

Above ground
- cup nest
- dome
- dome and tube
- plate
On the ground
- bed
- scrape
- mound
Below ground
- burrow

Gallery

Image:American Robin nest.JPG|Single egg in the nest of an American Robin. Image:Bird nest in grass.jpg|Nest in grass Image:crows.nests.arp.750pix.jpg|Rooks' nests Image:Great horned owl chick 3w.jpg|3 Great Horned Owl chicks in their nest. Image:Inside a nest.jpg|The inside of a bird's nest Image:redwing_nest.jpg|Redwings typically make ground nests. Image:Baby birds in nest.jpg|Chicks in a nest Image:Swallownest1.jpg|Mud nests made by swallows. Image:A03 4663 1024x683.JPG|Female Bald Eagle on nest with egg Image:Nest_lamp.jpg|A nest in a lamp. Image:Nest_bird.jpg|A bird building a basket nest.

References

Hansell, Bird nests and construction behaviour, CUP 2005, ISBN 0-521-01764-5

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Gallery

References

See also