Nests and the Birds That Built Them
Sharon Beals photographed fifty birds' nests in vivid detail, giving us a glimpse into a beautiful and architectual world. Plus: Accompanying illustrations of the nests' avian makers.
These stunning images are from a new book Nests: Fifty Nests and the Birds That Built Them ($29.95, Chronicle Books, June 2011), by Sharon Beals. Beals photographed nests from all over the world, collected over the last two centuries and currently held in the collections of the California Academy of Sciences, the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley, and the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology.
Made of human and animal hair, shells, plants, feathers, mud and more, these birds' nests are architectual marvels, created stick by stick and bird by bird. The book is accompanied with illustrations of the birds that built the nest (included in our slide show), with drawings by Laurie Wigham.
The cover of the book (left) is of the nest of the Arctic Redpoll, a finch that lives in Greenland and Canada.
house finch
Carpodacus mexicanus
The Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology
Nest and eggs
USA: California: Ventura County; Oxnard
19 April 2008
Altamira oriole
Icterus gularis
Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology
Nest
Guatemala: Departamento El Progreso: Morazán
06 May 2001
Eggs
Guatemala: Departamento Santa Rosa: Taxisco
11 May 2007
Barn Swallow
Hirundo rustica
The California Academy of Sciences
Nest
China: Heilungkiang Province: Wutalienchieh
09 July 1937
Eggs
China: Heilungkiang Province: Lesser Khingan, Chengchin Station
22 June 1938
Bank Swallow
Riparia riparia
The California Academy of Sciences
Nest, Eggs
USA: California: San Francisco County; Ocean Beach
06 June 1960
Caspian Tern
Hydroprogne caspia
The Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology
Nest, Eggs
Mexico: Estado de Baja California: Shell Island; Scammons Lagoon
17 June 1932
Western Tanager
Piranga ludoviciana
Museum Vertebrate Zoology
Nest and Eggs
USA: Nevada: Washoe County; Washoe Valley, 9 miles (14 km) N of Carson City
08 June 1934