A variety of bird nests

“Through the Lens” Fujingahou Magazine, June 2026

Photos and text by HIH Princess Takamado

Photo edited by Koichi Fujiwara (NATURE’S PLANET)

Edited by Yuki Masuda (Fujingahou)

English version prepared by Birdlife International.

(This English version is provided for reference only and does not constitute an official version)

In the northern hemisphere, spring through summer is the breeding season for many birds. Birds lay eggs and warm them with their body temperature until the chicks hatch. Nearly all species – except for a very few – make special nests for their breeding. The materials, shapes, and locations of these nests are remarkably diverse. In this article, I would like to introduce several fascinating examples of such structures.

Let’s start with the Grey Heron. These birds typically build shallow, dish-shaped nests high in trees along riverbanks or near the coast. This nest, however, was an exceptionally rare example in the sense that was built directly on the ground of a cliff. For birds, the most important factor is that their nesting sites need to be safe. Accordingly, we can say, this example demonstrates birds’ adaptability: birds think that the ground suffices as their nesting sites as far as it is safe.

The photograph above shows a more typical Grey Heron nest built high in a tree – the male is passing long branches to the female. This pair had not yet laid eggs, but in another nearby pair, an incubating female was using the delivered branches to reinforce her nest.

Next is a nest cavity excavated by a Great Spotted Woodpecker. The male and female create the cavity using their beaks. Since they select dead trees or those softened inside by fungi decay, the damage to healthy trees is minimal. The nest is first excavated horizontally from the edge of the cavity and then downward vertically. Since most woodpeckers produce a new nest each year, abandoned nest holes are often reused by other birds.

The next photograph shows the floating nest of a Little Grebe. These are made using plants growing in shallow ponds, underwater weed and branches hanging over the water. Although the nests rise and fall with changes in water level, they are anchored to surrounding plant stems to prevent them from drifting away.

In the photo above is a Varied Tit carrying moss for nesting material. Since they cannot excavate nest holes themselves, they use natural tree cavities, abandoned woodpecker holes or artificial nest boxes for their nests, spreading appropriate materials.

The next photograph features an Asian House Martin carrying mud. These birds build their nests from mud mixed with dried grass and other materials.

Shown above are Peregrine Falcons nesting on a rocky ledge along a steep coastal cliff. As these four chicks grew larger and began practicing their wing movements, I found myself worrying that they might fall from the nest.

The final photograph is of a Long-tailed Tit’s nest, the most intricate of all the nests introduced here. The birds weave moss together with spider silk to form a pouch-shaped structure, then fill the inside with many feathers. They lay an average of nine eggs, and one can see the nest expanding as the chicks grow.

One final note: recently, a friend asked me whether birds keep nests at their overwintering sites. Unlike a human home, a bird’s nest is not a place where birds live permanently. For clarification, they exist almost exclusively for breeding and raising chicks.