6 ms·

The engineering of birds’ nests

91 points by sohkamyung 7y ago

dahart 7y ago
> “We hypothesize that a bird nest might effectively be a disordered stick bomb, with just enough stored energy to keep it rigid,” I've had the pleasure of seeing a golden eagle's nest on a mountain top up close and personal, and it was absolutely stunning how meticulous and clean it was. It shocked me. It wasn't a stick bomb at all, it felt organized and roomy, the surfaces were flat, the ambiance was relaxing. The thing felt downright designed and engineered.
- tejtm 7y ago
  Ever wonder where the big birds get their sticks? I had just assumed they picked them up the way we would. But a large bird on the ground wrestling with a stick is vulnerable to ground adapted things. I have seen them breaking significantly sized dead branches off the tops of trees with full diving attacks where the sticks never hit the ground.
  - throwanem 7y ago
    A couple years back, I watched an osprey pull a three-foot length of steel wire out of a frayed cable on one of a tramp steamer's cranes. Osprey nests are wild. From the outside they look incredibly messy, and the wire wasn't an aberration; the birds make considerable use of human detritus in their engineering (cf. https://i.imgur.com/R2nO1Zu.jpg https://i.imgur.com/R2nO1Zu.jpg), and while I've never seen the inside of a nest due to how high up they build, I gather the end result is quite deep and spacious.
- mtm7 7y ago
  Fascinating. I found a video where two eagles work together to arrange a new stick in their nest. (It takes place around 10:25.) They try multiple spots to see where it fits best. [0] And unrelated to birds, but hearing about how animals "design and engineer" their living spaces reminds me of the pufferfish, which creates beautiful geometric artwork in the sand as a mating ritual. The fish is only about 4 inches long, but the artwork is over 6 feet in diameter. Picture [1] and article [2]. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KbtoO6CpQo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KbtoO6CpQo [1]: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C19XjjUUQAAuymb.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C19XjjUUQAAuymb.jpg [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pufferfish_mating_ritual https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pufferfish_mating_ritual
  - TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
    The pufferfish thing is amazing, thank you for sharing this!
    - mtm7 7y ago
      Of course. Amazing username by the way! :)
      - TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
        There’s a couple Dune themed usernames getting around. Have you seen the latest episode of Star Trek: Picard?
- randycupertino 7y ago
  On the opposite side of organized nests, I vote for Mourning Doves for the most haphazard, half-*ssed nestmakers. They're notorious for disheveled nests which barely stay together, in odd places: https://www.wild-bird-watching.com/images/dove-nest-on-hanging-ladder-21289825.jpg https://www.wild-bird-watching.com/images/dove-nest-on-hangi... https://www.wild-bird-watching.com/images/dove-nesting-on-ladder-21288859.jpg https://www.wild-bird-watching.com/images/dove-nesting-on-la... https://www.reddit.com/r/Ornithology/comments/6i7cwk/dove_laid_an_egg_on_a_clothes_horse_in_our/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Ornithology/comments/6i7cwk/dove_la... We had a pair in a planter box whose nest fell apart so often I ended up reinforcing it for them with some twine when they were away! They came back and had two more sets of babies in the same spot.
bobobob420 7y ago
Why are articles behind paywalls allowed?
- stagas 7y ago
  This[0] extension worked for me. [0]: https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome
whalesalad 7y ago
None of the images will load in the article. I am getting gnarly timeouts with the NYT CDN. Anyone else having trouble there?

91 points by sohkamyung 7y ago

> “We hypothesize that a bird nest might effectively be a disordered stick bomb, with just enough stored energy to keep it rigid,” I've had the pleasure of seeing a golden eagle's nest on a mountain top up close and personal, and it was absolutely stunning how meticulous and clean it was. It shocked me. It wasn't a stick bomb at all, it felt organized and roomy, the surfaces were flat, the ambiance was relaxing. The thing felt downright designed and engineered.

tejtm 7y ago
Ever wonder where the big birds get their sticks? I had just assumed they picked them up the way we would. But a large bird on the ground wrestling with a stick is vulnerable to ground adapted things. I have seen them breaking significantly sized dead branches off the tops of trees with full diving attacks where the sticks never hit the ground.
- throwanem 7y ago
  A couple years back, I watched an osprey pull a three-foot length of steel wire out of a frayed cable on one of a tramp steamer's cranes. Osprey nests are wild. From the outside they look incredibly messy, and the wire wasn't an aberration; the birds make considerable use of human detritus in their engineering (cf. https://i.imgur.com/R2nO1Zu.jpg https://i.imgur.com/R2nO1Zu.jpg), and while I've never seen the inside of a nest due to how high up they build, I gather the end result is quite deep and spacious.
mtm7 7y ago
Fascinating. I found a video where two eagles work together to arrange a new stick in their nest. (It takes place around 10:25.) They try multiple spots to see where it fits best. [0] And unrelated to birds, but hearing about how animals "design and engineer" their living spaces reminds me of the pufferfish, which creates beautiful geometric artwork in the sand as a mating ritual. The fish is only about 4 inches long, but the artwork is over 6 feet in diameter. Picture [1] and article [2]. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KbtoO6CpQo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KbtoO6CpQo [1]: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C19XjjUUQAAuymb.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C19XjjUUQAAuymb.jpg [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pufferfish_mating_ritual https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pufferfish_mating_ritual
- TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
  The pufferfish thing is amazing, thank you for sharing this!
  - mtm7 7y ago
    Of course. Amazing username by the way! :)
    - TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
      There’s a couple Dune themed usernames getting around. Have you seen the latest episode of Star Trek: Picard?
randycupertino 7y ago
On the opposite side of organized nests, I vote for Mourning Doves for the most haphazard, half-*ssed nestmakers. They're notorious for disheveled nests which barely stay together, in odd places: https://www.wild-bird-watching.com/images/dove-nest-on-hanging-ladder-21289825.jpg https://www.wild-bird-watching.com/images/dove-nest-on-hangi... https://www.wild-bird-watching.com/images/dove-nesting-on-ladder-21288859.jpg https://www.wild-bird-watching.com/images/dove-nesting-on-la... https://www.reddit.com/r/Ornithology/comments/6i7cwk/dove_laid_an_egg_on_a_clothes_horse_in_our/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Ornithology/comments/6i7cwk/dove_la... We had a pair in a planter box whose nest fell apart so often I ended up reinforcing it for them with some twine when they were away! They came back and had two more sets of babies in the same spot.

bobobob420 7y ago

Why are articles behind paywalls allowed?

stagas 7y ago
This[0] extension worked for me. [0]: https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome

whalesalad 7y ago

None of the images will load in the article. I am getting gnarly timeouts with the NYT CDN. Anyone else having trouble there?