Tag Archives: Nests

Birds and Nest-Building

A blackbird's cup nest

When I say ‘bird’s nest’, you know the type of nest I’m talking about, right? It could be a bald eagle’s stick platform high up in the branches of a tree. Or perhaps a peregrine falcon’s scrape in dirt, sand, or gravel on a shallow cliff ledge. Or maybe the burrows that bank swallows and belted kingfishers excavate in dirt, the cavity nests that woodpeckers excavate in dead wood, or the woven nests that orioles and weavers build. When I

How Big is a Bald Eagle’s Nest?

We’re almost at the end of October and our eagles are getting busy! HD and HM have been in full-speed ahead mode since early October, alternating straight sticks, wonky sticks, and piles of fluff as they build out their new home. It might seem early to start bringing in grass, but the subfloor needs a lot of prep before egg cup construction starts. Digging creates a soft, low spot that drains water, layers of material insulate the eggs and help

Nest N3 destroyed in the strong storms that rolled across NE Iowa on Saturday night

July 28, 2022: The view from the trail behind Walmart. N3 is gone. Many of the dead trees (and some of the live ones) either fell or took damage from the wind and other trees.

Nest N3 – the nest that Mom and DM2 built behind the Walmart in the fall of 2020 – was destroyed when the nest tree fell in the strong storms that rolled across NE Iowa on Saturday night. Based on the debris line and flattened, muddy grass along the upper Iowa behind Walmart, the river was at one point roughly four feet over its current flow level. The discharge in cubic feet per second more than tripled overnight following 4+