On this page

The books are listed by publication date with the most recent at the top.

Nests, Eggs, & Incubation: New Ideas About Avian Reproduction

Editor: D. C. Deeming, S. J. Reynolds

2016

"Nests, Eggs, and Incubation brings together a global team of leading authorities to provide a comprehensive overview of the fascinating and diverse field of avian reproduction. Starting with a new assessment of the evolution of avian reproductive biology in light of recent research, the book goes on to cover four broad areas: the nest, the egg, incubation, and the study of avian reproduction. New research on nest structures, egg traits, and life history is incorporated, whilst contemporary methodologies such as self-contained temperature probes and citizen science are also discussed. Applied chapters describe how biological knowledge can be applied to challenges such as urbanisation and climate change. The book concludes by suggesting priorities for future research."

Nest: The Art Of Birds

Janine Burke

2012

"What are nests if not art created by nature? If a nest is not art, how can we account for those exquisite, painstakingly, constructed creations that are decorated, or woven through with feathers, or studded with objects of a particular color or sheen? This book reveals both the art and mystery found in nature and celebrates them with lyricism, insight, and great affection. In the tradition of Longitude, Cod or The Cello Suites, Nest: The Art of Birds is a short education that encompasses celebration and theory, investigation and memoir, the familiar and the revelatory - as surprising and enticing as any beautiful, intricately constructed nest"

Avian Architecture: How Birds Design, Engineer, and Build

Peter Goodfellow

2011

"Birds are the most consistently inventive builders, and their nests set the bar for functional design in nature. Avian Architecture describes how birds design, engineer, and build their nests, deconstructing all types of nests found around the world using architectural blueprints and detailed descriptions of the construction processes and engineering techniques birds use. This spectacularly illustrated book features 300 full-color images and more than 35 case studies that profile key species worldwide. Each chapter covers a different type of nest, from tunnel nests and mound nests to floating nests, hanging nests, woven nests, and even multiple-nest avian cities. Other kinds of avian construction - such as bowers and harvest wells - are also featured. Avian Architecture includes intricate step-by-step sequences, visual spreads on nest-building materials and methods, and insightful commentary by a leading expert."

The Nesting Season: Cuckoos, Cuckolds, and the Invention of Monogamy

Bernd Heinrich

2010

"Why are the eggs of the marsh wren deep brown, the winter wren's nearly white, and the gray catbird's a brilliant blue? And what in the DNA of a penduline tit makes the male weave a domed nest of fibers and the female line it with feathers, while the bird-of-paradise male builds no nest at all, and his bower-bird counterpart constructs an elaborate dwelling? These are typical questions that Bernd Heinrich pursues in the engaging style we've come to expect from him - supplemented here with his own stunning photographs and original watercolors. One of the world's great naturalists and nature writers, Heinrich shows us how the sensual beauty of birds can open our eyes to a hidden evolutionary process. Nesting, as Heinrich explores it here, encompasses what fascinates us most about birds - from their delightful songs and spectacular displays to their varied eggs and colorful plumage; from their sex roles and mating rituals to nest parasitism, infanticide, and predation. What moves birds to mate and parent their young in so many different ways is what interests Heinrich - and his insights into the nesting behavior of birds has more than a little to say about our own."

Architecture by Birds and Insects: A Natural Art

Peggy MacNamara

2008

"Architect Philip Johnson once mused, "All architecture is shelter; all great architecture is the design of space that contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the persons in that space." But with just a small swap of a key word, Johnson could well have been describing animal nests. Birds and insects are nature's premier architects, using a dizzying array of talents to build functional homes in which to live, reproduce, and care for their young. Recycling sticks, branches, grass, and mud to construct their shelters, they are undoubtedly the originators of "green architecture."A visual celebration of these natural feats of engineering and ingenuity, "Architecture by Birds and Insects" allows readers a peek inside a wide range of nests, offering a rare opportunity to get a sense of the materials and methods used to build them. Inspired by the vast nest collection at the Field Museum, Chicago, which features specimens gathered throughout North and South America, Peggy Macnamara's paintings are enhanced by text written by museum curators. This narrative provides a foundation in natural history for each painting, as well as fascinating anecdotes about the nests and their builders.Like so many natural treasures, nests are easy to ignore. But Macnamara's gorgeous paintings will undoubtedly change that. "Architecture by Birds and Insects" at last gives the tiniest engineers their rightful moment in the spotlight, and in so doing increases awareness and encourages the protection of birds, insects, and their habitats."

Built By Animals: The Natural History Of Animal Architecture

Mike Hansell

2007

"From termite mounds that in relative terms are three times as tall as a skyscraper, to the elaborate nests of social birds and the deadly traps of spiders, the constructions of the animal world can amaze and at times humble our own engineering and technology. But how do creatures with such small brains build these complex structures? What drives them to do it? Which skills are innate and which learned? Mike Hansell looks at the extraordinary structures that animals build - whether homes, traps, or courtship displays - and reveals the biology behind their behaviour. He shows how small-brained animals achieve complex feats in a small-brained way, by repeating many simple actions and using highly evolved self-secreted materials. On the other hand, the building feats or tool use of large-brained animals, such as humans or chimps, require significantly more complex and costly behaviour. We look at wasp's nests, leaf-cutting ants, caddisflies and amoebae, and even the extraordinary bower bird, who seduces his mate with a decorated pile of twigs, baubles, feathers and berries. Hansell explores how animal structures evolved over time, how insect societies emerge, how animals can alter their wider habitat, and even whether some animals have an aesthetic sense."

Bird Nests and Construction Behaviour

Mike Hansell

2000

"Bird Nests and Construction Behaviour provides a broad view of our understanding of the biology of the nests, bowers and tools made by birds. It illustrates how, among vertebrates, the building abilities of birds are more impressive and consistent than for any other builders other than ourselves, yet birds seem to require no special equipment, and use quite uncomplicated behaviour. In doing so, the book raises general issues in the field of behavioural ecology including the costs of reproduction, sexual selection and the organisation and complexity of behaviour. Written for students and researchers of animal behaviour, behavioural ecology and ornithology, it will nevertheless make fascinating reading for architects and engineers interested in understanding how structures are created by animals."

Nest Building and Bird Behavior

Nicholas E. Collias and Elsie C. Collias

1984

Birds' Nests: An Introduction To The Science Of Caliology

Charles Dixon

Grant Richards / Frederick A. Stokes

1902

From the preface:

"It is a somewhat remarkable fact that notwithstanding the extreme popularity of the subject of Birds' Nests, no book has yet been published entirely devoted to these beautiful and curious objects. And yet their study - the science of Caliology - is one of the most fascinating branches of Ornithology, perhaps more intimately connected with those difficult problems and questions relating to the mental attributes of what man in his ignorance is pleased to consider the "lower animals," than any other. Indeed, there are many of us who would fain deny the existence of any reasoning faculties whatever in birds, classing their expression in a thousand different ways, all under the vague, meaningless and ridiculous term "Instinct." A bird's nest is the most graphic mirror of a bird's mind. It is the most palpable example of those reasoning, thinking qualities with which these creatures are unquestionably very highly endowed. Evidence of this reasoning power confronts the student of Birds' Nests as he gazes upon each procreant cradle, no matter how crude on the one hand, or how elaborate on the other it may chance to be; for each type of home represents the best possible harmony with the conditions under which reproduction may take place."