Bird nests

Name : Moira Cronje

Date : 7 April 2011

Course : Site guide

Bird nests:

Task:

Build a nest of your own and build a Hammerkop’s nest together hoping that birds will use it in the future.

Lesson learn’t:

We learn’t that it takes time to build a nest and that you should do research on the type of nest and the bird that would build such a nest. We all fulfilled the objective and they look very pretty!

Challenges:

We struggled at first to get a basic idea on how to start but we got the hang of it as time progressed. Patience is definitely one thing you need to do such a task and mine ran out a couple of times. We struggled to keep the hammerkop nest erect after moving it to the vehicle.

Strong points:

We could do the task and it came out quite fantastic. We gathered information on how to build a nest the day before and were well informed. We also gathered the materials needed to build the nests with the day before so we were prepared.

We wanted to build three types of nests, one in each level meaning ground level, middle and canopy.

The ground level nest would be for birds like Kiewiet, Guinea fowl and Lapwing.

The mid-story nests would be for birds like Doves, Shrikes and Weavers.

The canopy level nests are built by birds like Hammerkop, Vultures and Secretary birds.

Objective:

To see how difficult it is to build a nest and to realize the time and effort it takes to build a home when you are a bird.