Have you ever seen a small but extremely sophisticated nest? I’m sure you have. You probably wondered how such a little creature could even bring branches to the top of trees by its little beak. We are taken aback when we realize the bird is maybe ‘smarter’ than human being, given that birds are never taught how to build up such an amazing shelter. So we should not call a stupid person 'a bird brain.' Something small does not mean it is inferior. Let me ask you this question: Have you EVER imagined there are all kinds of ways to make nest? You may think it’s funny to tell what is what, because it looks all the same, or say we can’t have a close look at it “NEVER”, ever. Because they are out of reach (This is what birds want). Anyway, The Chungdae Post has searched for the kinds of nests each bird has its own way of making cozy shelter. In what follows, I will introduce some of cute and amazing birds living around the world. Let’s start with one of Korean’s most welcome birds, Magpies (so called 'ggachi' in Korean). Have a look at how it copes with building its lovely house for family. First a Magpie starts with leaves, not branches! Nor does it drill through the trunk with its strong beak. So, it gets ‘groundworks’ done by piling soft leaves up. Later then, it begins to bring mud needed as a natural super glue or cement and applies it to the pile of leaves. It takes about from 4 to 24 hours to finish this job. Imagine you work out for 4 hours straight! A Magpie must have superpower inside its little body! It just repeats this process again and again until the nest is made big enough to embrace Magpies’ egg.
Second, Woodpecker is such a superstar in bird’s world because of its powerful beak which can tear up trees. We need some background information about it. Woodpeckers can be found in wooded areas all over the world, except in Australia. Its strong, pointed beak is compared to a chisel and a crowbar. Beak is used to remove bark and find hiding insects. Also, a Woodpecker has a very long tongue with a glue-like substance on the tip for catching insects. In addition, some of them drum on trees to communicate with others as a part of their courtship behavior. It seems like a Woodpecker’s Morse code. You may guess that its way of making a house is ‘drilling’ into the trunk of tree. But this is not the end. Wood-made house is very hard to lie down. So this bright bird has its own answer to make a cozier place for its babies. It brings soft leaves and drops feathers into the nest.
The next bird I’m going to talk about is ‘Little Grebe’. It might sound a bit strange, but it will be much familiar with its cute name ‘Non-byungAri.’ Its way of making a house is quite interesting. Its main habitat is paddy field. It usually gathers up decayed grasses and then makes raft-like shelter which is a good hiding place from possible-predators. Almost all birds seem to put their priority on keeping their eggs safe.
There is another bird that catches our eyes. It’s Kiwi. I believe you are curious about what Kiwi really is. Does it mean the green, sweet-and-sour fruit? It’s definitely not. Kiwi is a bird that “cannot fly,” so called ‘flightless bird.’ It’s at around the size of a domestic chicken and it’s by far the smallest living ratite bird(Flightless bird as elephant bird and Kiwi. It has relatively weak muscles). Surprisingly enough, it lays the largest egg in relation to their body size of any bird species in the world. When you see the picture, you will immediately recognize it because it is one of the cutest birds and it has been illustrated in many animation movies. However, sadly enough, you would not be able to see it on the real Earth here anymore. There are five recognized species, but all are endangered. All of them have been adversely affected by historic deforestation.
Let’s go back to Kiwi’s secret of building nest. Since Kiwi can not fly which means that it can not go up high to get away from other animals, it is vulnerable to invasive mammalian predators. So, the only way to survive and keep their eggs and youngs safe until they are grown enough to protect themselves is to do something on the underground. That is why Kiwi to ants with feathery wings. Some of male Kiwis look after their eggs.
Lastly, hummingbirds are small and colorful birds with iridescent feathers. Its name comes from the fact that they flap their wings so fast(about 80 times per second) that they make a humming nosie. Hummingbirds can fly right, left, up, down, and even figure-8-pattern. They are also able to hover by flapping their wings in a figure-8 pattern. They have a specialized long and tapered bill that is used to obtain nectar from the center of long and tubular flowers. So you would be eager to know how this little nimble creature builds its nest by now. It uses spider’s web to glue its nest together. Isn’t it such a bright strategy that it thinks of using it? Maybe the bird itself doesn’t even notice it is borrowing spider’s house to make its own shelter. Also, hummingbirds add soft feathers in order to keep their future kids warmer.
Can you understand why I first said “Do not call a stupid person ‘a bird’s brain’?” I believe you agree that it’s alarming to see that birds are wiser than normal human beings. Birds are the most talented architects in the world!!
jungeun21@cnu.ac.kr