Post #13682

Red-haired stove maker: Their nests are complex houses made of clay, the thoughtfulness of which is amazing! How technologically advanced should a nest be? How many birds - so many answers to the question. For some, it’s enough to throw a heel of branches just so that the egg doesn’t roll away. Other birds make a good wicker nest or even create one out of saliva, which is actually hellish work. But the red ovenbird from the tropical forests of South America surpassed everyone. After all, his nest is a high-tech clay house, manufactured according to all construction rules! When a couple of red-haired stove-makers decide that it’s time for them to build a life together, raise children and do other socially approved things, they look for a suitable foundation for their home. And this is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. Yes, any thick branch, flat stone on top of a cliff or the roof of a human house will suit them, but there is one caveat: there must be a clay outlet in the immediate vicinity of the construction site. Therefore, bird cottages are easiest to find in hilly areas and along river banks. Once the site for construction has been chosen, long and extremely tedious work begins. First, the stove-maker takes a beak full of straw and small twigs, then flies to the clay deposit and mixes everything thoroughly. And only then does he pick up a beak full of this mixture and carry it to the construction site. But due to the size of the bird’s beak, this process drags on for many weeks. But wait, why such difficulties? Why can’t you just immediately collect clay and fashion a house out of it? Because clay mixed with straw is adobe, an amazingly durable and weather-resistant material that even people appreciate. Moreover, they were so appreciated that they are still used today, in the age of glass, cement and polymer materials. Not only are adobe bricks cheap and easy to make, they are also stronger than unfired clay - small twigs and blades of grass act as reinforcement, taking on part of the load and preventing the base material from crumbling into useless pieces. And the birds came up with this technology themselves, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of years ago! But the choice of material is only half the battle; stove makers even approach the architecture of their home wisely. The thick walls of the nest keep it warm at night and cool during the day, all precipitation rolls off the rounded roof, and the entrance to the small house is always located so that climbing inside without wings is problematic. As a result, the birds get a cozy, reliable and safe home that they can use for several years. And even powerful tropical downpours cannot wet the feathers of their chicks! Author: Yaroslav Ilyin 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot