| Introduction | Secluded Place | Scrape | Mound | Burrow | Cavity | Plate | Platform | Pendant | Sphere | Cup | Host |

Introduction

In order to successfully mate, lay eggs, incubate them and produce a new generation of birds, each bird species must have an appropriate scheme that is suitable to their life style.  Some birds fly half way around the world to find a safe place with food and the right environment for the new chicks, while others just use a little depression in the ground in their own neighborhoods to lay their eggs.  Some build no nest at all in a secluded place while others build elaborate nest in a particular type of fork in a particular type of tree.  The variety is quite amazing!

The pages through the links above and below will lead you to pictures and information about some of the different types of nests and nesting schemes used by some specific types of birds.  We hope you enjoy the pictures provided by some great photographers who generously share their photos. We also we hope the information brings you a better appreciation of the fascinating nesting behavior of birds.

The Utah Birds Website Staff
  

  
Nest Types
  

Photo / Link	Nest Type	Some Birds that mainly use this type of nest
	Secluded Place   (no nest)	Some Raptors    Some Owls    Some Auks    Some Seabirds  Non-North American Birds    Potoos    Some Penguins
	Simple Scrape	Most shorebirds and  terns    Many ducks    Some falcons, pheasants, quail and partridges     Non-North American Birds    Ostriches, bustards and sandgrouse;  Most tinamous
	Mound	Flamingos     Non-North American Birds    Horned Coots  (of South America)    Megapodes Including:       Australian Bushturkeys and Malleefowl
	Burrow	Burrowing Owls    Puffins    Shearwaters    Most kingfishers  Non-North American Birds    The Crab Plover, miners and leaftossers    Some megapodes, motmots and todies
	Cavity	Woodpeckers, chickadees, bluebirds, trogons, parrots    Some Nuthatches, kingfishers, owls, ducks and flycatchers     Non-North American Birds    Most hornbills    Many barbets
	Plate   (Small platform nests)	Grebes, Coots, Black Terns
	Platform	Eagles    Osprey    Egrets    Cormorants
	Pendant   (Hanging nest)	Orioles     Non-North American Birds    Oropendolas, caciques, weavers and sunbirds
	Sphere	Marsh wrens, magpies and American Dippers  Non-North American Birds    Thick-billed Weavers
	Cup Shaped	(This is the most common nest type)    Many passerines    Some hummingbirds and some swifts
	Host Nest   (Brood Parasites)	Cowbirds     Non-North American Birds    The honeyguides    Many Old World and Australasian cuckoos