Amazing Nests
Birds are incredible builders! They construct nests to keep their eggs safe and warm, using just their beaks and feet as tools.
Cup nests are the most common type. Robins build cup-shaped nests from mud, grass, and twigs in the crook of a tree branch. The inside is lined with soft materials like grass and feathers to cushion the eggs.
Cavity nests are built inside holes. Woodpeckers drill holes in tree trunks and lay their eggs inside. Owls often move into abandoned woodpecker holes instead of building their own!
Platform nests are large, flat nests built by big birds. Bald eagles build the biggest nests of any bird — some are nine feet wide and weigh as much as a car! Eagles add to their nest every year, making it bigger and bigger.
Ground nests are simple hollows on the ground. Killdeer birds just scrape a shallow dip in gravel or dirt for their eggs. To protect their eggs, killdeer do an amazing trick — they pretend to have a broken wing to lure predators away from the nest!
Hummingbirds build the tiniest nests — about the size of a walnut! They use spider silk to hold the nest together and lichen to camouflage it.
**Fun Fact:** Bald eagle nests can be nine feet across and twenty feet deep. The largest one ever found weighed over two tons!