Birds use a wonderful variety of materials and techniques to create their nests. Some nests are small and tidy, like grass baskets lined with cozy feathers. Others are large and messily blobbed with mud.
Some species build their nests in trees, some on the ground, and others woven into wetland plants or adhered to cliff faces – or your back porch wall.
I’ve spotted and admired many birds’ nests, but never one made by a ruby-throated hummingbird or a blue-gray gnatcatcher. This is likely because both species shingle their nests with lichens, making them exceptionally well camouflaged. [Read more…] about Lichens and Birds’ Nests
New research on the glittering White-necked Jacobin hummingbird reveals nearly 20% of the species’ adult females have male-like plumage.
This is such a disorienting time, when all our lives have been turned upside down and shaken. One of the ways my own family is coping is by spending time outside every day.