The main breeding season for birds in the UK is between March and August every year. This article looks at some of the various bird nests built by UK species.
What are they made of?
Not all birds build nests, but those that do use a huge variety of materials, depending on the nesting time, the species and surrounding habitat. They can contain tightly woven twigs, grass or woody stems. Other species use premade nooks and crevices in trees, natural structures or buildings. Nests can be lined with softer or warmer materials such as animal fur, moss, mud or feathers. These materials are usually held together by spider webs, twine-like vegetation or even horsehair.
Nest varieties
Nests can be a variety of sizes, depending on the size of the bird, the need to remain hidden and the structural limitations. For example, the largest recorded bird’s nest is a bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nest at 2.9m wide and 6m deep. It was recorded in 1963 in Florida, USA. In Scotland, a golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) nest was recorded in 1954 at an impressive 4.57m deep. The smallest recorded birds nests are made by hummingbird species, around 2cm wide and 2-3cm tall.
How are they built?
The nests can be built by either the male or female, or they can work together. They can take from a few days to a few weeks to build, depending on the size and complexity. Some bird species build a new nest every breeding season but others, such as the goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) will use the same nest for many years.
Identification
Often enough, if you observe a nest from a distance, you’ll be able to identify the species when the adult birds return. But there are other ways to identify the owners of a nest. Nest size, shape, material and placement can all be useful ways to identify them, as well as egg size, number, colour and pattern. Some nests and eggs are so similar, however, they can be very difficult to identify in the field. Nests and eggs are protected by law through the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981; it is an offence to take, damage or destroy any wild nest. Disturbance can lead to young being abandoned and injury to nesting birds – please observe nests from a safe distance.
Location and timing can also be important, as not all bird species nest at the same time and some only nest in certain ranges within the UK. Many species can also be quite specific about the habitat they nest in.
Nests are usually categorised by type and those in the UK can include:
Scrapes
These are nests of the simplest construction, usually a shallow depression in the sediment or vegetation. They can sometimes be lined with vegetation, stones, feathers or shell fragments, often to help camouflage the eggs. This is a common nest type of many wader species, as well as pheasants, quails and bustards.
Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)
The ringed plover breeds on open ground, such as beaches and gravel flats. They lay their eggs directly on the ground in an open area with little or no vegetation, with shell fragments sometimes used to line the nest. They usually produce 2-3 clutches per breeding season, each with up to four eggs. These eggs are pale brown with dark brown speckles. As this nest type is very vulnerable to predators, the ringed plovers have developed a strategy to draw attention away from the eggs – the parent bird will lead a predator away from the nest by feigning an injured wing.
Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)
This species also creates scrape nests, although they can be lined with twigs or other vegetation. Laying between 1-4 eggs, only one clutch is laid per season. The eggs are similar to the ringed plover, with a pale brown background and dark brown speckles. This species, however, uses a practice called ‘egg dumping’, where they lay their eggs in a nest of another species, such as herring gulls, and allow them to raise the chicks.
Burrow
These are nests dug into the ground, riverbanks or cliffs. The UK birds that nest in burrows include puffins, some petrel and shearwater species, sand martins, shelducks and kingfishers. Many burrow-nesting birds excavate their own burrows but some use the pre-dug burrows of other species. Puffins, for example, often use empty rabbit burrows. As these nests are underground, species identification can be difficult without disturbing the nest, therefore it is best to wait for an adult bird or chick to appear. The location of the nest can also help to identify the species. Kingfishers, for example, usually occupy burrows in riverbanks.
Puffin (Fratercula arctica)
The Atlantic puffin lays a single white egg between late April to early May. The parent birds will defend the nesting site and take turns feeding the chick until it is ready to fledge, between 34-60 days after laying. During this time, the chick will remain within the nest burrow.
Cavity
Cavity nests are chambers, usually in trees. They can be excavated by the bird themselves, such as woodpeckers, but most species use natural cavities or disused nests. These species are often enticed to use nest boxes as these mimic natural cavities. The process of excavating a cavity can take, on average, around two weeks.
Eurasian Nuthatch (Sitta europaea)
The nuthatch does not create its own cavity and will often use old woodpecker nests, although they will enlarge an existing hole or, if the entrance is too large, the female will plaster it with mud to reduce the size. The nuthatch lays between 6-9 white eggs that have red speckling. The eggs are small, usually around 2cm long and 1cm wide.
Cup
A cup nest is a hemispherical nest, with a deep depression for the eggs to be housed in. It is often made of a more pliable material such as grasses and thin twigs, but some can be made of mud. These nests are built mostly by passerine birds.
Blackbird (Turdus merula)
Blackbirds usually build their nest in evergreen bushes such as ivy, hawthorn or holly, but will also nest in sheds and outbuildings. The nest is built by the female and made with vegetation such as leaves and grass, bound together with mud. The female lays 3-5 bluish-green eggs with reddish-brown blotches that are, on average, 2.9cm long and 2.1cm wide.
Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)
This species builds a mud-lined cup nest, usually in bushes or trees. The song thrush lays between four to five eggs, which are blue with dark spots and are around 2.7cm in length and 2cm in width. They can lay between 2-4 clutches per season.
Platform
These nests are large structures, which can either be elevated or on the ground, depending on the species. They can often be much larger than the bird that built them. This nest type is often used by birds of prey, but also by other birds such as herons, cormorants, and grebes.
Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)
Some waterbird species build nests directly on top of the water. These floating platform nests are built out of aquatic vegetation, cattails, reeds and mud. They can be anchored to vegetation to keep them from drifting away and to conceal them from predators. The great crested grebe usually lays four chalky white eggs, which are around 5cm in length and 3.7cm in width.
Osprey (Pandion hallaetus)
Usually breeding near freshwater, the osprey creates large platform nests made out of sticks, turf, driftwood or seaweed. They can be built on rocky outcrops, artificial platforms, forks in trees or even utility poles. The nests can be as wide as two metres. Osprey usually lay 2-4 whitish eggs with reddish-brown splotches. The eggs are quite large at 6.2cm long and 4.5cm wide.
Sphere
A few UK species create sphere nests, round structures that are completely enclosed apart from a small entrance opening. The entrance is usually on the side as it allows for protection from the rain. These nests can be made from mud, vegetation, or woven twigs and are commonly covered on the outside with moss, lichen or other camouflaging vegetation.
Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)
These nests can be identified by shape but also by construction material. The long-tailed tit uses lichen, feathers, spider egg cocoons and moss to create its nest. The nests are usually suspended in gorse, bramble bushes or high up in tree branches. The lichen is usually used to line the outside as camouflage and the feathers line the inside as insulation. The long-tailed tit has one brood per season and lays between 6-8 eggs, but can lay as many as 15. The eggs are white with reddish-brown speckles.
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Could you tell us about how you first came to be interested in the natural world?
The reality is very anti-social working hours, high levels of frustration and a huge impact on home life! But I wouldn’t change it for the world as it is undoubtedly one of the most soul-nourishing jobs you could ever hope to do, in my opinion. It’s a tough, highly competitive industry, but this doesn’t mean you can’t get in through gentle persistence and dedication. Knowledge is everything: read, watch and learn everything you possibly can about your chosen wildlife subject before even attempting to film it.
In his latest book, 
shapes, forms and colours of the birds. They were so very different to the birds I was used to seeing in the Somerset countryside around our home. After that, every now and again I’d see footage of hummingbirds on wildlife documentaries, and began to appreciate further just how remarkable they were – what Tim Dee described as ‘strange birds: not quite birds or somehow more than birds, birds 2.0, perhaps’.
There were plenty of other moments that I’ll hold in my heart, and they don’t all involve the iconic, rare species. One such was watching Golden-tailed Sapphires, a hummingbird that looks as if it’s been dipped in rainbows, feeding in a clearing in the immediate aftermath of a heavy rain shower. As the sun broke through the dripping vegetation and steaming air we were suddenly surrounded by myriad small rainbows through which the birds were flying. That moment was ephemeral, over almost as soon as it began, but it’s etched in my memory forever. 
I found myself asking myself that very question as my journey into their world unfolded… Hummingbirds certainly seem to touch something deep inside us. They featured in the mythology of the Aztecs; inspired the most dramatic of all of the immense geoglyphs carved into the desert floor by the Nazca; appear in renowned art and literature; and, to this day, are singled out for particular love by those whose gardens they frequent, people who would not necessarily identify themselves as birders.
Inevitably there were some logistical challenges to contend with, not least having to reacquaint myself with horse-riding after a decades-long and deliberate avoidance of it! There were a couple of close encounters with large predators that were, in hindsight, more alarming than they felt at the time – as a naturalist, I was thrilled to get (very) close views of a puma… But perhaps the most challenging moment of all was landing in Bolivia at the very moment the country was taking to the streets to protest the outcome of a recent presidential election. There was an incident at a roadblock manned by armed men that was genuinely scary, with an outcome that hung in the balance for a terrifying instant, and could easily have ended badly.
I sometimes think there’s almost too much optimism expressed when talking about conservation challenges anywhere in the world – a narrative that suggests “if we only care enough, the [insert iconic species name here] can be saved”. And to a degree, that’s good – we’ve got to have hope, as the alternative is too dreadful to countenance – but given our impact to date, and in an uncertain future where the effects of climate change are still unfolding and will continue for many decades to come, to name just the biggest of the mounting pressures on the natural world, I’m not sure that I do feel terribly optimistic, least of all for those hummingbird species that have very localized populations, or depend upon very specific habitats. They’re undeniably vulnerable. But like Fox Mulder, 
slow I would be overtaken by very old people on Zimmer frames. It seemed as though I’d hit 97 five decades prematurely.
I first visited as a schoolboy in 1962, just a couple of years into Skomer’s incarnation as a nature reserve, and it was a day that changed my life forever. The most overwhelming idea that stayed with me from that day was that eventually, whatever it took, I would become warden of Skomer. I finally fulfilled that long-held childhood dream in the spring of 1976. Following 10 wonderful years on Skomer I moved to North Wales where initially I was responsible for the management of 5 spectacular National Nature Reserves and in 1991, I became responsible for supervising the management of the entire series of NNRs in Wales, a position I held for over twenty years. In 2018 I became the chair of the Pembrokeshire islands conservation advisory committee and so my commitment to Skomer continues.
