Still Life With Tiny Nest

I really don't know how I got started collecting birds' nests or when I decided to start putting them on the Christmas tree, but they have become my favorite decorations! I can't always identify which bird built which nest, but  birds have definite building styles  just as we have different styles of homes. Also just like our homes, birds' nests are designed to protect eggs and hatchlings.

The one in today's post is obviously a hummingbird's nest. It is shaped like a cup and lined with very soft material and some really tiny flowers. It must be tight quarters when everyone is in residence. I have one cup shaped nest that looks like it is made entirely of horsehair, while others incorporate moss, grasses, lichen, leaves, twigs and man made items like twine and ribbon. One made entirely of long Monterey pine needles is rapidly losing its shape and I have to reconstruct it every year. 

The woodpeckers make their nests inside holes in trees or telephone poles. We see them coming and going all the time but I've never been able to peer inside the holes to see if they are lined. We have lots of tits and chickadees which also make cavity nests which is why we don't see many nests in the trees. 

I have one nest which is a pendant nest... a woven sack with an entrance on the side that can hang from branches. I've had it for years. I know orioles make pendant nests although I never saw orioles in Berkeley and we didn't see any here until last year.

Most nests are marvels of construction but we had a pair of doves in Berkeley that tried year after year to 'build' their nest in the eaves outside our bedroom window. They don't seem like very bright birds and they certainly don't have very good engineering skills. They would throw a few bits of grass or straw down on the bare wood, but it wasn't enough to cushion the eggs or keep them from rolling off the ledge.

My very favorite nests are those of the bowerbird. I don't have any and have only seen them on television but here are some examples if you are interested in seeing how the  charming and romantic male birds woo a mate by building and decorating an elaborate structure.

Who needs Christmas ornaments with all this?