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Strange Places for a Nest
Some birds improvise their homes with whatever they can find.
© Diane Beckwith Zink
Birds are resourceful. Wherever they live, even in the biggest cities, they find clever places to build their nests. An initiative from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology called Celebrate Urban Birds once asked people to share the funkiest and funniest places they’ve seen a bird nest. Among the highlights were a family of robins set up shop in a coiled cable hung near a welding rig, a wren nest in an old car motor, and a tiny hummingbird nest perched precariously on an outdoor string lightbulb.
BirdNote®
Strange Places for a Nest
Written by Conor Gearin
This is BirdNote.
[Barn Swallow calls]
Birds are resourceful. Wherever they live, even in the biggest cities, they find clever places to build their nests. An initiative from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology called Celebrate Urban Birds once asked people to share the funkiest and funniest places they’ve seen a bird nest.
[American Robin song]
One family of robins set up shop in a coiled cable hung near a welding rig. Other robins raised their chicks in a nest perched on an elk skull mounted above a garage.
[Carolina Wren song]
Carolina Wrens are especially creative. People have found their nests in an old watering can, in an unused outdoor grill, in the motor of an old car, and on top of a perfectly good birdhouse.
[Ruby-throated Hummingbird hum]
One of the most unlikely finds was a teeny, tiny Ruby-throated Hummingbird nest poised on top of a small string lightbulb over a patio. The human owners of the lightbulb kept their patio string lights off until the baby birds learned to fly.
[Ruby-throated Hummingbird hum]
Each of them is an odd spot for a nest, but for these birds, it’s home. Where’s the strangest place you’ve seen a bird nest? Let us know on social media. For BirdNote, I’m Ariana Remmel.
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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Barn Swallow ML 2907192 recorded by J. McGowan, American Robin ML 94260 recorded by W. Hershberger, Carolina Wren ML 325816941 recorded by W. Hershberger, and Ruby-throated Hummingbird ML 457953881 recorded by S. Buddy.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2022 BirdNote December 2022/2024
Narrator: Ariana Remmel
ID# nest-12-2022-12-02 nest-12
Conor Gearin
Writer
Ariana Remmel
NarratorSights & Sounds
