THEY’RE THE McMANSIONS of bird nests, though I suppose not necessarily as luxurious as that as just plain big—too big to fit into the first half of our recent Q&A story on the topic of nest-building. The nests of eagles, herons and other big birds require a space of their own, in nature and here on the website. Once again, Ellen Blackstone of the BirdNote public-radio program is our expert guide.
In the Q&A that follows, Ellen’s answers contain green links to audio files from BirdNote’s archive that you won’t want to miss. A recap of earlier stories in our series is at the bottom of the page, along with information on how to get BirdNote daily.
“Location, location, location,” says Ellen, whatever size the bird. “It’s important when people choose a place to raise a family, and every bit as important to a bird.” (This archived BirdNote show explains just how much so.)
Q. How does a bird with a wingspan of more than 6 feet, such as an eagle, who also breeds relatively early in the season, even manage to have an adequate nest ready in time?A. Bald Eagles (above photo, with a nestling) use the same nest year after year, refurbishing and adding to it all the time–like this. It’s hard to miss the huge nests of large raptors, high in a tree. Eagles have been known to carry sticks more than a mile to their nest—even breaking dead branches off trees for the purpose. Their nests are among the biggest of all birds—5 or 6 feet wide, and up to 4 feet tall, shaped flatter or more cylindrical or conical to fit the tree they’re building in, according to Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Golden eagles prefer cliffs as their nesting location, Cornell says, but trees will do—or even the ground or manmade structures such as electrical towers. More
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