In winter we find more birds’ nests than at any other season. It’s not that we aren’t looking the rest of the year; it’s just that the leaves get in the way. But after autumn comes and goes, the bare limbs of trees are decorated by the deserted homes of our avian friends.
An expert can identify a species of bird by its nest, for each robin and wren follows its own species’ master plan. But not all birds construct an actual nest.
The simplest nest we’ve found was that of a killdeer in North Carolina. We drove into an overflow parking lot and noticed the bird standing surprisingly close to our motorhome. As we got out and walked closer, the killdeer put on the “broken wing” display typical of the species. She tried her best to draw us away from what we now knew must be a nesting site, but there was nothing in the area but golf-ball-sized gravel covering the field.
A careful search turned up the nest - a slight depression in the gravel, filled with four eggs that perfectly matched their surroundings. We drove around the “nest” on our way out, hoping that the eggs would soon hatch. It was nearly summer, and time for that parking lot to get heavy use. (Read the rest …)
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