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Hanging
and Woven Nests
Hanging nests, particularly woven ones are perhaps the most admirable of bird architecture. They certainly look very beautiful and most require great skill on behalf of the bird to build. The simplest hanging nests are cup-nests slung from an overhead bough by a few cobweb supports such as the nests of the Goldcrest (Regulus regulus), the Fire Crest (Regulus ignicapillus) and various White Eyes (Zosteropidae).
An interesting variation is the hanging cup nest of the Hummingbird (Planalto Hermit - Phaethornis pretrei), which has only a single support cable for its nest. To help keep it stable it has a streamer of grass and cobwebs hanging down below the nest. Other birds which build hanging nests include the Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus), the Fantailed Warbler (Cisticola juncidis), and the Rock Warbler (Origma rubricata), though this last species is not technically speaking a warbler. Better
known than these are the hanging, often on mass, nests of the Icteridae
and Oriolidae. There are nearly 100 species of weaver birds renowned
for their carefully woven hanging nests. These nests tend to be either
hung from the tip of a branch or leaf, or suspended between two twigs.
They are globular in shape with a single entrance hole. Apart form globular
nests, weaver Birds also construct kidney-shaped nests and retort-shaped
nests are basically globular nests with an entrance tunnel. Whatever
their shape, nearly all weavers make their nests out of grass and the
nests are truly woven with the bird moving from side to side, poking
part of the strand of grass through the wall from the side and then
pulling it completely through from the other. If you have any information you would like to see on this page/site, or suggestions about were and how we get additional useful information, please have a look at the pages on how you can participate in building information and creating knowledge in EcoBirds. Most information on this page was contributed by EarthLife. Please send EcoBirds your comments and suggestions. |
