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A common sight these days is a bird carrying usually some sort of bug in its bill, headed for a nest of baby birds squawking, with bills wide open to receive it.
Nests can be found in potted plants, on branches, piles of twigs and leaves, in holes, attached to buildings, and in tunnels; some as big and heavy as a car — such as those of eagles — and some, for hummingbirds, small as thimbles.
Normally, it’s the female that builds the nest, and materials used for adherence to twigs and leaves are spider webs, caterpillar silk, and their own saliva mixed with mud. Rough and scratchy materials are used for the outside of the nest, while soft materials such as moss, fur, feathers, and cotton line the inside for the babies’ comfort.
Nests take on many shapes — the most common being cup-shaped; some, long bags hanging from a branch. That of a stork may be 9’ deep and 6’ wide. Some birds build platform nests on anchored plants in water.
Swallows construct their nests completely from mud and their saliva. In China, these vacated nests prepared in restaurants are served as a delicacy known as Bird’s Nest Soup.
I’m not fussy about what I eat, but I can’t say I’d order the above mentioned in a restaurant.
