Bird nests give up century-old rubbish secrets

SEPTEMBER 2, 2019 1:10 PM AEST

About 900 bird nests, some dating back to the late 1800s, are helping USC researchers gain rare insights into how birds interact with human materials – both dangerous and safe.

The study team, led by USC Animal Ecology lecturers Dr Dominique Potvin and Dr Kathy Townsend, is analysing museum nest specimens at the Melbourne Museum and CSIRO’s Australian National Wildlife Collection in Canberra.

“We don’t have time machines to go back over 100 years to figure out how long animals have been using debris for nest building – these historical nests give us that opportunity,” Dr Potvin said.

“The nests are essentially a snapshot of animal behaviours from generations of animals long gone and there are not many other studies that can claim to do this,” she said.

The research team, which includes visiting research student Fabiola Opitz of Germany, hopes to record geographical and historical patterns of human materials in nest building by birds.

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Peak District wild fire destroys dozens of bird nests

8 May 2018

A "devastating" wild fire has destroyed an estimated 40 to 50 bird nests and about 40 hectares of moorland.

Five members of the Peak District Moorland Group and 30 firefighters fought the blaze in the Goyt Valley, Derbyshire, after it broke out at about 18:00 BST on Sunday.

Gamekeeper Richard Bailey said fire crews at the scene thought it was started deliberately.

He said curlew, grouse, pipit, short-eared owl, and duck nests had gone.

Canadian goose and mallard nests were also destroyed in the fire and many grouse pairs, which are very territorial birds, were seen at the edge of the fire, Mr Bailey said.

On the fire service's records, the cause has not been recorded, however, Mr Bailey said the on-scene firefighters' assessment was that it was deliberate.

Mr Bailey said he also scanned the area where the fire started and there was no evidence of an accidental cause.

"I would be 85% to 90% sure that it was a deliberate attempt of arson," he said.

The gamekeeper, who went straight to the scene after smelling the smoke from his house, said: "It is a disaster."

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As climate warms, more bird nests are destroyed in farmlands

A new study shows that birds have shifted the time of their breeding much more quickly than Finnish farmers are anticipating their sowing times. This means that more birds are laying their eggs on fields that are still to be sown, a mismatch in timing that is most likely fatal for the bird nests.

"As the eggs of Curlew and Lapwings are placed on unsown fields, they are likely to be run over by farming machinery during sowing operations even if farmers were willing to avoid nest destructions," says researcher Andrea Santangeli from Finnish Museum of Natural History, part of the University of Helsinki.

Modern agriculture is catastrophic for farmland wildlife

The rush to produce more food to feed an ever-increasing society has led to unprecedented transformations in farmland over the past 50 years. The challenge of increasing crop yields was met by making extensive use of chemicals, like pesticides and herbicides to remove pests and weeds, and by making fields larger and homogeneous.

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Is Australia the birthplace of birds nests?

February 1, 2017

The most common birds nests found today had their birthplace in Australia, and these nests may be key to many of our birds' success, according to new research from Macquarie University, released today.

The research, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, looked at the birds nests of passerines – common song birds which include lyrebirds, fairy-wrens and magpies – and found the ubiquitous 'open' cup nest evolved in Australia multiple times more than 40 million years ago.

The birds resulting from these open cup nesting lineages gave rise to many of the worlds' birds today, and this study suggests that the open nests were perhaps a key to their success – measured both in terms of how many species they evolved into, and how far they have spread around the world.

"Among the passerine birds – which make up 60 per cent of the worlds birds – most species today build open cup-shaped nests, and only a minority build more elaborate roofed structures. The study shows that open cup nests evolved multiple times independently during early passerine evolution on the Australian continent, eventually becoming the most common nest type across the world today," said study co-author Professor Simon Griffith from the Department of Biological Sciences.

The fact that these common open cupped nests appear to have arisen several times in different lineages, but around the same time, suggests that this was driven by the emergence of new predators or parasites or with changing climates and habitats.

"Australia is host to the ancestors of today's common birds around the world, and the open cup nest that originated here is one of the innovations that perhaps has made them so successful," said Professor Griffith.

Read more at: 

Birds saved centuries old documents in their nests

04.11.2015 23:11    

During the restoration work in the Assumption Cathedral built in early XV century in Zvenigorod Russian archaeologists found numerous birds’ nests built throughout several centuries under the decayed roof. Researchers were surprised when during the decomposition of the nests they started finding paper documents from different periods in the addition to birds’ bones and eggshells. In particular, they found XVIII century manuscripts and notes from early XIX century.

Generations of birds were carefully bringing papers to create comfort in their homes. Sometimes they were obtained by the theft: jackdaws and swifts were not only taking people’s litter but also securities – promissory notes, bills of sale, banknotes.

There are even pieces of banknotes for 1000 rubles – a fortune at the time. Various printed materials are preserved the best in these old nests: scraps of pre-revolutionary newspapers, candy wrappers, recipes, tickets, packaging, etc.

Source and pictures …

Bird nest smugglers get 22, 14 years in jail

Thanh Nien News

HO CHI MINH CITY - Friday, August 28, 2015 09:32

A Ho Chi Minh City court Wednesday sentenced a woman to 22 years in jail for smuggling in more than six tons of bird’s nest from Malaysia and Indonesia.

Between May 2011 and July 2012 Vo Ngoc Phuong, 42, had operated a HCMC-based ring that smuggled VND36 billion worth of bird’s nest, causing losses of VND 9 billion in tax, the indictment said.

Her henchman Lu Chi Hao was sentenced to 14 years for his role in the smuggling.

Two custom officials at Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport, Nguyen Quang Hung and Nguyen Minh Duc, each got a three-year term for helping the huge contraband smoothly pass through customs.

Nguyen Trung Cong, a ground service official working for Vietnam Airlines, got a two-year suspended sentence for helping the smugglers.

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Bird nest delicacy earns $15,000 fine

Monday, 3 August 2015, 12:30 pm

Press Release: Ministry For Primary Industries

Bird nest delicacy earns $15,000 fine

03 Aug 2015

A North Shore man was fined $15,000 in Manukau District Court last week (30 July) for trying to illegally import a Chinese delicacy that threatens New Zealand’s poultry industry and native birds.

Tian Chi Lee, 40, of North Shore, had earlier pleaded guilty to a Biosecurity Act charge of knowingly attempting to possess unauthorised goods – 68 dried birds’ nests. He was fined $15,000.

Bird’s nests are a Chinese delicacy made from the saliva secretions of the swiftlet bird. Swiftlets can carry a number of significant avian diseases not found in New Zealand.

The offending involved a package sent from Malaysia in January marked as biscuits and addressed to a “Mr David” at an address on the North Shore.

Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) x-ray equipment at the international mail centre identified the package contained organic material and it was found to contain 68 birds’ nests.

An investigation uncovered that “Mr David” was in fact Mr Lee. He admitted that his brother in Malaysia had sent the birds’ nests with a false declaration to a fictitious person because both of men knew they were not allowed in New Zealand.

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What drives the evolution of bird nest structures?

Date:May 6, 2015

Source:Central Ornithology Publication Office

Summary:How to protect your chicks from predators? Build a dome over them! There is tremendous diversity among the nests of birds, in nest location, structure, materials, and more, but we know very little about the forces that shaped the evolution of this incredible variety. A new study finds that domed-shaped nests arose as a result of species transitioning to nesting on the ground, where the risk from predators is greater.

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Spate of Orkney car fires sparked by nesting birds

Car owners on Orkney have been warned to check under their bonnets regularly after a spate of fires caused by birds nesting in vehicle engine compartments.

There have been at least three car blazes over the past few weeks which have been caused by nests.

Kim Patching, the owner of the car, said that it would not start and then in a matter of minutes smoke and flames emerged from under the bonnet.

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Dove builds nest in Southend traffic lights

A dove has built its nest in front of the red traffic light at a roundabout in Essex. 

The bird moved into its new home at Cuckoo Corner in Southend, despite the lights having anti-bird spikes fitted. 

The RSPB said the collared dove was facing traffic coming from Priory Crescent and the light would provide heat. 

Frank Varga, RSPB officer, said: "It's happy and using the deterrent to support its nest, so well done." 

The roundabout is also fed by Manor's Way, Victoria Road and Prince Avenue and has 21 traffic lights. 

The RSPB said the collared dove is used to nesting on cliffs 

"This is a perfect area with plenty of grassland including Priory Park nearby as a resource for food," Mr Varga said. 

"From its origins in Turkey the collared dove has colonised the whole of Europe since the 1930s and my guess is she saw this spot and managed to move the spikes slightly to build the nest. 

"In the wild, these birds live on cliffs so it's replacing the noise of all the other birds with the noise of traffic." 

It is thought the dove moved in a fortnight ago.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-22569231

12 Most Unusual Places For a Bird's Nest

More photos:  http://www.oddee.com/item_98512.aspx

World's Largest Bird Nests: Photographer Dillon Marsh Snaps Social Weaver Homes In South Africa (PHOTOS)

Dillon Marsh, from Cape Town, spent three days wandering in the Kalahari Desert near the South African town of Upington to photograph the huge, avian-built homes. According to a photo caption provided to The Huffington Post by British photographic press agency Rex Features, the pictures were taken earlier in February.

"I had seen these nests as a child while on a holiday with my family and their impressive size had mesmerized me," Marsh told the Daily Mirror."I had started to develop an interest in the relationship between people and the environment, and these nests struck me as the perfect subject matter."

According to earlier research, the nests of social weaver birds (also known as sociable weavers) are believed to be the largest birds' nests in the world. Reminiscent of giant haystacks, each nest -- some of which can grow to over 20 feet wide and about 10 feet tall -- can be occupied by hundreds of sociable weavers at a time.

The San Diego Zoo, which houses a number of social weaver birds, said on its website that the massive nests, made up of twigs, grass, cotton and other natural materials, have to be constantly maintained by the birds.

The animals do this job diligently, however, and some nests have been known to last for about 100 years.

Other than providing a hiding place from predators, the nests are also said to be climate-controlled -- perfect for protecting the birds from the Kalahari Desert's harsh climate, the website of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums explains.

According to a blog post on Scientific American, the apartment building-style nests are also perfect for social weaver birds, which raise their young communally.



Slideshow of more giant nests at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/25/worlds-largest-bird-nests-dillon-marsh-social-weaver-south-africa_n_2760633.html

Bird nests halt construction of Willits bypass

By MELODY KARPINSKI

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at 6:26 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at 6:26 p.m.

The construction of the controversial Willits bypass off of Highway 101 has stuttered after the discovery Monday of a bird nest that interfered with the first day of construction.

Two bird nests were discovered on the site, the first of which CalTrans officials suspected to be man-made. A second nest was removed for analysis by a California Department of Fish & Wildlife environmental scientist.

The discovery of the second nest caused CalTrans to voluntarily suspend construction until consultations with Fish & Wildlife were complete, said Phil Frisbie, a Mendocino County CalTrans official.

The bypass project has met opposition from environmental groups and local busineses, and caused a 24-year-old Willits woman to stage a tree-sit protest. Environmental groups have said that CalTrans is out of compliance with the federal Migratory Bird Protection Act.

“Our main concern is that this is the migratory season,” said Sara Grusky, a leader of the group Save Our Little Lake Valley, which is protesting the bypass. “They shouldn't be allowed to remove that vegetation.”

CalTrans is abstaining from the removal of further vegetation pending re-evaluation of the area in conjunction with the Fish & Wildlife department, Frisbie said.

“We are working with them to make sure we are meeting with all state and federal regulations,” Frisbie said.

Prior to the discovery of the nest and the need for re-evaluation, Frisbie maintained that CalTrans followed the law and remained within their permit constraints.

One point of contention is the allegation that the first nest found on the site was man-made, something Grusky calls “outrageous.” Frisbie said a CalTrans biologist and permit compliance officer Jerome Washington made the allegation based on how the nest was woven and where it was found.

Construction briefly resumed Tuesday until two protesters, Grusky and Jamie Chevalier, stepped in front of the excavators, which paused construction a second time. Frisbie said the construction was stopped due to the crew running out of materials, and not because of the protesters.

The tree-sitting Willits woman calling herself “Warbler,” remains in a pine tree just off of Highway 101, still hoping to stop the bypass. “Warbler,” whose real name is Amanda Senseman, ascended the tree Jan. 28 and has refused to come down despite concerns from local law enforcement and a rash of snowy weather.

Senseman's actions have attracted a number of supporters and critics. Senseman disagrees with the stigma of some of the labels critics have attached to her, saying she does not consider herself a radical environmentalist or a hippie anarchist.

“I don't consider myself any of those things. I'm just someone with common sense who's looking towards the future,” Senseman said. “We don't need another four-lane freeway, we need more sustainability.”

Frisbie said CalTrans is currently taking a “hands-off” approach to Senseman's actions in an effort to respect her freedom of speech. Construction on the bypass is expected to resume by the end of the week.

You can reach Staff Writer Melody Karpinski at 521-5205 or melody.karpinski@pressdemocrat.com.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20130227/ARTICLES/130229579/1010/sports?p=2&tc=pg

Cigarette Butts in Nests Deter Bird Parasites

The sight of cigarette butts delicately woven into birds’ nests sparks an array of reactions, from relief that birds are adapting to urban environments to disgust at the display of human disregard for wildlife. But a new study suggests that some birds may benefit from nesting with cigarette butts. The nicotine lingering in filters may serve as an insecticide, driving parasites away from the nests and the baby birds living within.

As horrifying as the idea of baby birds growing up in a cigarette-filled home sounds, it’s not too surprising: the fluffy plastic in cigarette filters makes a fantastic construction material. However, cigarette butts are undoubtably smelly—a fact that has even driven people away from keeping them around.

But birds are actually quite fond of the chemicals found in some smelly plants, otherwise known as aromatics, from which “essential oils” are derived. Aromatic plants produce these chemicals to defend themselves against insects and other animals that would take them for food—but birds have their own use for them. Some nest-building species, including starlings and blue tits, regularly replenish their nests with fresh aromatics, and scientists hypothesize that the birds use these chemicals as parenting tools.

How would plant-derived chemicals help birds raise their chicks? It’s possible that the chemicals boost the immune systems or development of the chicks so that they survive better after they leave the nest; this is known as the “drug hypothesis.” Alternatively, the “nest protection” hypothesis suggests that the plant chemicals act as insecticides, driving parasites and other harmful insects from the nest.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/culturing-science/2012/12/04/cigarette-butts-in-nests-deter-bird-parasites/