These Bird Nests Are Unbelievably Big
These nests can be found in the Kalahari Desert, South Africa and they are made by a bird species named the Sociable Weaver Bird. At first glance, they look like massive haystacks that are fallen into trees.
The foundation of these nests are usually trees or things like telephone poles. Over things such as these, the birds construct a frame with big sticks and then build walls from dry grasses to make separate rooms, and line every room of the nest with softer grasses and fibers.
They use sharp spikes of straw to keep the predators away from the nest. These nests are the largest nests among the nests all the other bird species can construct, and they are big enough to house more than a hundred pairs of birds.
It's still possible to find birds in some of these nests that are more than 100 years old.
The nests are highly structured and the birds have better temperatures on the inside of these nests compared to the outside temperatures all year round. The rooms in the middle retain heat and are used for nighttime roosting.
The outer chambers are used for staying cool during the daytime and they maintain temperatures of 7-8 degrees Celsius inside while outside temperatures may vary from 16-33 degrees Celsius.
These birds got the name 'Sociable' not because they live in big colonies, but because they tend to share their nests with a couple of other bird species including owls, vultures, eagles, red-headed finches, ashy tits, familiar chats, and many more.
The weaver birds are really happy to have guests! That's because when they're crowded in the nest, they have an easier time keeping the predators away.
Also, the weavers usually learn from the other birds where new sources of food can be found. These photos in the gallery below were taken by the photographer Dillon Marsh and they're part of his photo series titled Assimilation.
