When I was a kid my mother would often say "Brush your hair, it looks like a bird nest!" And now, guess what? I can actually say that my hair is a bird's nest, or part of at least one.
I shed. We all do. The hair I pull out of my brush is added to my compost bucket, eventually tossed on the backyard heap, and, hence, up for grabs.
I have seen birds pick up some of my "fur balls" come nest-building time and make off with them. You too can help line a bird nest. Since hair takes a while to decompose, start adding yours -- and your cat or dog fur -- to the compost now.
And while you wait for spring, why not develop your skill in the fine art of bird-nest identification? It is possible through deduction to make reasonable guesses as to which species was the architect of each nest.
Keep in mind, though, that weather can alter the structure of a nest, and that variations in construction by different birds of the same species occur, so without actually seeing the occupants, identification remains a guess.
This is the perfect time of year to start looking and learning. The leaves are gone and nests, often bearing a little cap of snow, are easy to spot. A walk along a hedgerow or the edge of a wood usually reveals a few subjects. More important, you can get a close look without disturbing breeding birds.
That being said, I would encourage you to take a careful look, take a picture if you like, but please don't take the nest. Some bird species will clean up, repair or built on top of last year's nests. If young birds are successfully reared at a particular nest site, the owners may well return.
Even if the nest is not re-used, it may still provide a winter home for mice. A variety of adult and larval insects may also overwinter in the nest material. These insects may in turn provide food for foraging winter residents such as chickadees and nuthatches.
Nests made in tree cavities are often used for shelter during the winter by a variety of wildlife species. On cold winter nights, a number of chickadees may pile into a cavity together. So look but please don't remove nests.
And remember: never approach an active nest during the breeding season. Use your binoculars instead.
There are many types of nests and just as many possible sites, including the inside of your chimney or at the back of a long tunnel excavated in a bank. I will limit this article to identification of a few of the cup-shaped nests, since these are the most obvious in winter.
When you find a nest, begin by asking the following questions:
- How big is it?
- How far off the ground is it?
- To what vegetation has the nest been attached? How is it attached?
- Last and most interesting, what is the nest made out of?
A robin's nest is typically four inches across, usually found in the fork or on the branch of a tree. It is bulky, made mostly of grass with a smooth inner cup of mud lined with fine dry grass. These nests may also have strings or bits of rag woven into the outer structure.
Robins often feed and nest near humans. Their nests may be located over a doorway or sheltered under other man-made structures. Friends of mine refused to use their outdoor furniture until the robins nesting in the spokes of the umbrella moved out.
Catbirds make a nest similar in diameter to that of a robin. Their nests are constructed of twigs and bark strips and lined with rootlets. Cellophane or a strip of plastic may be found among the twigs as well. Catbirds generally nest 3-10 feet up in a small tree or bush.
Small, neatly formed nests, around two inches across, made of grasses and located less than three feet above the ground on weeds or small bushes can usually be attributed to sparrows. If the nest is lined with fine grass and hair, then sparrow is definitely a good guess.
Small cup nests in young trees or shrubs, lined with milkweed or thistle down (such a soft home for a tiny helpless hatchling) are often the work of warblers, goldfinches, or flycatchers.
If you come across a cup nest suspended between thin forking twigs you are looking at a vireo nest, my favorite.
The upper rim of these ingenious masterpieces is bound to the twigs with plant fibers, hair, spider -- and sometimes caterpillar -- webs. Building material may also include moss, fur, wool, or feathers. The outside of a vireo nest is often adorned with birch bark and lichens.
I always marvel at the fact that nests are so skillfully constructed without the use of hands. To peer inside a tiny cup of grass and twigs and see it lined with the softest down reminds me that not all engineers have a university degree.
For anyone wishing to learn more about nest identification, I highly recommend A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birdsby Colin Harrison, published by Collins Press.
If you have tales of unusual sites for robin nests, drop me a line at .
