Scociable Weaver is a very common little bard, mostly found in South Africa. Yet they are the most interesting kind of birds in the world due to their nest building capability.  They make huge nests. One nest can accommodate the entire colony and even the future generations. These nests are ...

Scociable Weaver is a very common little bard, mostly found in South Africa. Yet they are the most interesting kind of birds in the world due to their nest building capability.  They make huge nests. One nest can accommodate the entire colony and even the future generations. These nests are perhaps the most spectacular structure built by any bird.

Their nests are not any ordinary nest. If you look from a distance then it will look like a haystack over the tree. However if you look closely then you can see the entrances of to the different chambers of the nest. A nest may contain 100's of chamber and can be home of 100's of pairs of birds. The nest entrance can be 10 inches long and 3 inches of wide and the nest chambers are round and around 4-6 inch wide.

Large nests help the sociable weavers stay comfortable in the harsh climate of the Kalahari Desert. During freezing winter nights, a move to the nest's well-insulated center chambers helps the little birds stay warm. Scorching summer temperatures are easier to weather when roosting in one of the outer chambers of the nest.

Sociable weavers also install a security system. Sharp sticks are placed in the nest to deter predators from entering. Snakes, especially Cape cobras are the most common nest predators, often consuming all the eggs in all the chambers of a large nest. Nest predation is often as high - in one study 70% of the clutches laid were depredated.

 

Weaver nests need constant care because of the nature of the materials used. Weavers have to continually add more material to keep the nest intact. Some sociable weaver nests have remained occupied for over 100 years.

 

 



Ref

• www.popularmechanics.com


• animals.sandiegozoo.org


• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociable_Weaver

Cite This Article as

medextor, "Sociable Weavers Nest", MachPrinciple, November 18, 2013, https://machprinciple.com/post/sociable-weavers-nest