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SciShow 11 Jun 2026 20 here now

Scientists Can't Explain Why Bird Nests Are So Different

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From woven twigs to dugout burrows, nest types seem jus

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bc they are flipping artists. they're creative creatures. they entertain each other with singing and dancing, it's not random sounds and movements.
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Well, not to put too fine a point on it but … birds vary enormously. That their nests also vary doesn’t strike me as particularly surprising. In fact, were it the opposite I would find that much more surprising.
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The overarching theme seems to be this is what works for me and my surroundings, mixed with this is what I was taught/know works.
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Bird psychology is going to be an amazing field to study in 2150
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Because both the egg and the chicken was first. It is only by opening the coop and observing that the wave function collapses that you know if you're having an omelet or a drumstick for lunch.
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food for thought about the northern gannets and black guillemots. the fact they both live in the same habitat but have different nesting styles and locations may also come down to competition. different nesting styles would prevent both species competing for the same nest sites.
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Some birds are easier to identify from the shape of their nests rather than the birds themselves. Weavers are an example. It is fascinating to watch the building.
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hey i mean humans make incredibly advanced and varied homes i mean think about historical houses vs a single family home vs an apartment vs a tent or a teepee or heck even a cave i think it would be hard to create a unified model of our buildings too
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@erdvilla From YouTube ↗ 21 Jun 2026 7
Sparrows love picking the fur my dogs shed. They aren't brave enough to pick the bundles directly from them, but if a bit rolls onto the back patio it is a competition to see how long it will take for one to descend and take it away.
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WHAT WHERE DINOSAUR NESTS LIKE, that’s all I could think
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3:33 The Amazing Digital Circuits!
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Talk about coincidental timing. I was outside working in my garden this morning and noticed that there are half a dozen quail eggs underneath my bougainvillea!

However, there's no "nest" to report on with these ladies. They just lay their eggs on the ground and let the summer heat do the rest. Seeing as I live in Phoenix Arizona I was nice and moved the eggs into the shade, which they missed by about 12 inches. Thankfully that rumor about birds abandoning their nest, or in this case their eggs, if they smell humans is exactly that, a rumor.
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@LPArabia From YouTube ↗ 21 Jun 2026 41
Nests are an extended phenotype in the evolution of birds. One of the craziest nests I saw recently are the ones made by crows out wire clothes hangers!
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Did they also test for what other birds were around? If someone is using up all the good sticks in the area, you might not be able to make a nest out of sticks
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You'd need to figure in niche partitioning, including:
Concealment of the nest; if all birds built their nests the same way and in the same kind of places predators could find them more easily.
Resources; if all birds built their nests the same way and in the same kind of places they'd all be competing with each other for locations and materials
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@DMTrance87 From YouTube ↗ 21 Jun 2026 104
"There's a stick, it's a nest....WHADDAYA WANT FROM ME?!"
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A family of Carolina wrens made a nest of gathered fluff and leaves in an upsidedown straw hat in my garage. They grew so fast, it was amazing to see them raise their chicks from my garage door window. If the parents saw me doing something in the garage when they were bringing the babies worms to eat they would wait just outside of the garage until I would leave, so I'd hurry up an go inside when they'd appear and peek out at them 😊
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I love how pigeons are just like "lemme put a few twigs within 3 or 4 inches of my egg… good enough."
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Emperor Penguins don't have nests! They have feets
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0:32 When I heard "Scientists have tried" before hearing the rest of the sentence, I thought she meant that Scientists have tried to build nests with massive beaks.