Chaffinch Nest

Wed 21st March 2012

This time last year I found what I believe to be a chaffinch nest, lying at the foot of railings that separated a school playing field from the pavement. Its spider silk anchors must have failed, as it appeared to have been blown out of a nearby tree.

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Not only do spiders make good food for birds, but spider silk is an essential sticky binding in many birds’ nests. Chaffinches use sticky pads of spider silk both to secure their nest foundation in the forks of trees and to bind collected material to make the nest cup. Long-tailed tits exploit spider silk’s elasticity to make their famously intricate feather-filled domes stretchy enough to accommodate developing broods of up to 12 nestlings!

I took this fallen nest home in a plastic bag, and have kept it in the garage since – a little wary about what might jump out of it if I brought it indoors. Looking at it again this spring I am amazed at its freshness – the moss is still green and the feather lining pristine. It appears unused, and was probably unfinished, given both the date I found it, (31st March – early for chaffinches), and the lack of lichen camouflage typical of chaffinch nests.

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It’s loss would’ve been a big setback for the poor chaffinch hen, who will have made countless trips to gather the twigs, moss, hair, feathers, grasses, rootlets, and spider silk that have been woven into it. As a consolation her efforts have been much scrutinised, photographed, and admired by me! I may eventually donate it to the Glasgow-based National Nest Reference Collection, begun in 1998 by Prof. Mike H. Hansell, except that it will be difficult to part with.

NOTE: All wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 whilst they are actively nesting or roosting, making it an offence to intentionally take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while that nest is in use or being built. To avoid impact on nesting birds and infringement of the act local authorities assign the ‘official’ nesting season as being 1st March to 31st July inclusive and schedule clearance work outside this date range.