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Okay, But... Birds · Thursday · 29 min

Okay, but what's the deal with nests?

E34. Not all birds build one, but for the ones that do, a nest has a single job and a shockingly wide range of ways to get it done. Dr. Vanya Rohwer, Curator of Birds and Mammals at the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates, joins Scott to walk the far end of that spectrum, from nests made entirely of spit to a colony structure heavy enough to snap the tree it sits in. In this episode you'll hear about: The complete and comical inventory of one hamerkop nest, read aloud, contents included What a bird does when you hand it a nest somebody else already built Why a shed snakeskin in a tree cavity is a calculated decoration New episodes every Thursday. If the show is doing it for you, leave a rating or hit follow. All audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But… Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Bird media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows: American Robin audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML206448 Baltimore Oriole audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML219606 Black-legged Kittiwake audio contributed by Roger Charters, ML202491 White-nest Swiftlet audio contributed by Arnoud B. van den Berg, ML36421 Cliff Swallow audio contributed by James (Jim) Holmes, ML92053871 Chimney Swift audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML107413 Hamerkop audio contributed by Anonymous, ML97562 Eastern Whip-poor-will audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML195774 Montezuma Oropendola audio contributed by David L. Ross Jr., ML215446 Western Grebe audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML195029 Rufous Hornero audio contributed by Mike Andersen, ML132447 Northern Yellow Warbler audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML516692 Sociable Weaver audio contributed by Jacob Henry, ML637193738 Great Crested Flycatcher audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML94314 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML534430 White-breasted Nuthatch audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML306062

0:00-29:12
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show notes

E34. Not all birds build one, but for the ones that do, a nest has a single job and a shockingly wide range of ways to get it done. Dr. Vanya Rohwer, Curator of Birds and Mammals at the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates, joins Scott to walk the far end of that spectrum, from nests made entirely of spit to a colony structure heavy enough to snap the tree it sits in.

In this episode you'll hear about:

  • The complete and comical inventory of one hamerkop nest, read aloud, contents included
  • What a bird does when you hand it a nest somebody else already built
  • Why a shed snakeskin in a tree cavity is a calculated decoration

New episodes every Thursday. If the show is doing it for you, leave a rating or hit follow.

All audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But… Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Bird media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows:

  • American Robin audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML206448
  • Baltimore Oriole audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML219606
  • Black-legged Kittiwake audio contributed by Roger Charters, ML202491
  • White-nest Swiftlet audio contributed by Arnoud B. van den Berg, ML36421
  • Cliff Swallow audio contributed by James (Jim) Holmes, ML92053871
  • Chimney Swift audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML107413
  • Hamerkop audio contributed by Anonymous, ML97562
  • Eastern Whip-poor-will audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML195774
  • Montezuma Oropendola audio contributed by David L. Ross Jr., ML215446
  • Western Grebe audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML195029
  • Rufous Hornero audio contributed by Mike Andersen, ML132447
  • Northern Yellow Warbler audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML516692
  • Sociable Weaver audio contributed by Jacob Henry, ML637193738
  • Great Crested Flycatcher audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML94314
  • Blue-gray Gnatcatcher audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML534430
  • White-breasted Nuthatch audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML306062

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