The World's Biggest Bird Nests
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They are an extraordinary collaborative effort, constructed and maintained by a single species from southern Africa.
The birds in question are the aptly named sociable weaver - Philetairus socius. Their nests can perhaps best be described as apartment blocks. Each structure contains hundreds of individual chambers, which are each home to a single pair of birds and their brood.
Constructed in trees and sometimes around telegraph poles, each structure can be up to six metres (19 feet) across. Each block can contain hundreds of nesting chambers, and up to 500 birds. This fact earns the birds another accolade. Sociable weavers also produce the most densely populated bird nests in the world.
This sandy-coloured, sparrow-sized bird live in the arid savanna regions of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. The body of the nest is made from dried grass, which gives the structure its distinctive haystack-like appearance. Large twigs are used to create the roof, spiky bits of straw are used to protect the entrance holes, whilst cotton, fur and other soft items are used to line the chambers.
Professor Graham Alexander, a lecturer in herpetology (amphibians and reptiles) and head of the Herpetology Research Laboratory in the School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences at Wits, became fascinated by the nests while studying reptiles in the desert. "Sociable weaver nests consist of separate chambers, each of which is occupied by a pair of birds, sometimes with their offspring. The entrances to the chambers can be seen from below, giving the structure a honeycomb-like appearance. The central chambers retain heat and are used for night time roosting, while the outer rooms are used for daytime shade. Large nesting colonies can span many generations and decades, all in the same nest - some have lasted close to a century. New chicks aren't hatched on a strict seasonal cycle. Rather, females lay eggs shortly after rain," he told Phys.org
Successful nests can be extended across decades, and last for more than 100 years. With new material continuously added to old, the enormous structures can weigh up to 1000 kilograms, which earns the birds yet another accolade, reports BBC Wildlife Magazine. The sociable weaver also makes the heaviest bird nest in the world. Nests sometimes become so weighty that they topple the trees they sit in.
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