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Robins Nest On Moving Solar Arrays
The more the panels tilt, the taller the robins built
© Andy Reago and Chrissy McClarren
Solar panels are a popular source of renewable energy, but large groupings of them — called arrays — can take up a lot of space. Chelse Prather, an ecologist at the University of Dayton, wanted to know how wildlife are using the habitats underneath two arrays in Ohio. The first site was a fixed array with panels that are locked in place. The second was a tracking array where panels tilt to follow the sun. Chelse and her students found American Robin nests at both sites, but the tracking array nest looked… weird. In their study published in 2025, the team confirmed that these nests were unusually tall and mounted to the support beams at odd angles. It’s a new example of how birds are adapting to a changing world.
BirdNote®
Robins Build Nests On Solar Arrays
Written by Ariana Remmel
This is BirdNote.
[American Robin]
Solar panels are a popular source of renewable energy, but large groupings of them — called arrays — can take up a lot of space, says ecologist Chelse Prather.
Chelse Prather: People are interested in making that area underneath solar arrays into usable habitats. So it's really important to know who is using it and how they're using it.
At two solar arrays in Ohio, Chelse and her students found American Robins — or rather, their cup-shaped nests. The first site was a fixed array with panels that are locked in place. The second was a tracking array where panels tilt to follow the sun.
Chelse noticed that robin nests on the tracking array looked… weird. Measurements confirmed that these nests were unusually tall and mounted to the support beams at odd angles.
Chelse Prather: We think that was just because the nest was moving throughout the day when they were trying to make the nest.
And the taller walls may have stopped the eggs from falling out too. It’s a new example of how birds are adapting to a changing world.
Chelse Prather: Nature finds a way. These birds are making their nests — that contain their precious eggs — on a structure that is moving all the time, and they have found a way to do it, which I think is just remarkable.
[American Robin]
For BirdNote, I’m Ariana Remmel.
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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. American Robin ML168300 recorded by Wil Hershberger.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2026 BirdNote March 2026
Narrator: Ariana Remmel
ID# PratherC-01-2025-03-12 PratherC-01
Reference:
https://chelseprather.wordpress.com/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.71539
Ariana Remmel
Writer NarratorSights & Sounds
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