We have been talking about nests. Most birds make nests. We learned that there are two jobs in making a nest- collecting the materials and putting the materials together into the shape of the nest. The books we read so far did not tell us how long it takes, but they told us sometimes birds have to go quite a distance to find the kind of mud or other material they need.
Birds use natural materials and sometimes some man-made materials. After we thought of some of the things they might use, we did some detective work. We began to dissect a nest. This was a nest one of our afterschool classes found in the park. It had fallen out of a tree and was empty.
First we looked at it and estimated how many pieces of material it took to make the nest. Students gave estimates from 90 up to 200. After we dissected during one science period, we look at the pieces we had pulled out and the pieces we had left. (We had counted well over 200 pieces!) Everyone changed his/her estimates. Estimates are guesses… but they are not wild guesses; they are guesses based on your observations and experience. Once we had the experience of starting to dissect, our estimates were adjusted… Now they range from 1,000 to 2,000. We could see there were many more pieces left than pieces we had counted.
Ask your kindergartener what kinds of things we found!
The timing question of making a nest is an interesting one. When do birds realize that a nest is needed? Does a mama bird full to bursting with eggs really have to go around collecting and building? I bet it’s strenuous work.
Are they only for putting eggs in? Seems like a lot of work to create such a cozy spot – just to abandon it when the little ones have flown away.
I saw a little wren fluttering around under the eaves of our porch just a few minutes ago and thought s/he must be searching for a suitable spot for nesting. Which led me to the timing question.
My kindergartener is off at the Paper Airplane Day at the Air and Space Museum in Balboa Park. (Surprise, surprise!) I’ll have to ask about the nest materials when he comes back.
There is so much to learn! I did read that birds may make over 500 trips to gather materials to build a nest. I also wondered how long it took; it varies, of course, according to type of bird, weather, time of year, and complexity of the type of nest. Another site I looked at told me that “passerines” will build nests within a few days while raptors make take several weeks to build their nests.
In my research on the European Robin, I learned that it is considered a “passerine”. (I have to admit I wasn’t familiar with the term.) I read online that this little robin, very common and beloved in the UK, used to be considered of the thrush family but now is classified as an Old World flycatcher. I also read that the female of this species makes the nest by herself… but, in all fairness, it said that the male takes care of the fledglings once the female is starting to prepare for the next batch of eggs!