Birds are among the most abundant creatures on earth – and the most creative. Some birds will craft nests that hang and look like pouches instead of typical nests that rest among trees. These birds will likely have you glad your feet are on the ground!
For example, some birds make pendulous nests, and others will weave debris to craft a nest that defies logic. Read on to learn all about these unique birds and see a bird nest that looks like a pouch.
Contents
What Is a Pendulous Nest?
A pendulous nest is ovular or round in nature and remains suspended from something else. Most pendulous nests hang from trees, branches, or other natural features like cliffsides. However, some may hang from man-made structures like buildings or towers.
Most birds who craft pendulous nests use these structures to keep their young safe from predators who have no problem climbing up high to get to the eggs or young hatchlings in the nest. For example, black bears are expert climbers and regularly climb to catch a meal.
Pendulous nests include moss, pine needles, and leaves. Some birds will weave these items together to create a truly remarkable display of craftsmanship.
What Bird Nest Looks Like A Cup?
Many birds craft nests that look like cups and will hold young hatchlings cradled within. For example, barn swallows, robins, different types of hummingbirds, and warblers make ovular or cup-shaped nests to cradle their hatchlings and keep themselves safe.
A cup-shaped nest is slightly different from a pouch-shaped nest, however. A pouch nest is a little shallower and will hold the young closer to the surface. These nests are usually higher up and don’t have as many predators to worry about.
Cup-shaped nests are deeper to protect hatchlings from more prevalent predator threats since they are closer to the ground.
9 Birds That Nests Look Like A Pouch
These bird nests are stunning and mind-bending. Between pouch-like nests and those built on cliffsides, these nests will have you feeling dizzy just looking at them. Read on to learn what types of birds are crazy enough to defy gravity with their nests.
1. Baya Weaver
- Scientific Name: Ploceus philippinus
- Length: 6 in
- Weight: 1 oz
- Wingspan: 10 in
A baya weaver is a stunning bird plentiful from Pakistan to Sumatra. These birds make their nests on trees with thorns or tropical palm fronts. You can likely find a baya weaver making a nest near water and hanging its nest high in the trees where no predators can eat their young.
These birds usually make their nest on a sturdy branch, allowing it to droop downward.
2. Common Firecrest
- Scientific Name: Regulus ignicapilla
- Length: 4 in
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 6 in
The nest that a common firecrest makes looks more like a drooping cocoon than it does a bird’s nest. This nest is layered to offer protection from the elements and will keep their hatchlings from getting eaten or harmed by predators lurking below.
Common firecrests will start their nests on a sturdy branch and build among and around it to ensure they are crafting something sustainable for their families.
3. Eurasian Golden Oriole
- Scientific Name: Oriolus oriolus
- Length: 8 in
- Weight: 3 oz
- Wingspan: 17 in
The Eurasian golden oriole makes a pendulous nest that looks more like a hammock than anything else. This hammock is the perfect size and shape to protect their hatchlings without proving troublesome to reach in and feed them.
This bird is a stunning emerald and yellow color with black wings that makes them stand out among the trees. Although predators can’t get to them, they’ll note their colorful feathers and vibrant squawk.
4. Golden-Crowned Kinglet
- Scientific Name: Regulus satrapa
- Length: 4 in
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 7 in
Golden-crowned kinglets will build a round nest on flimsy branches, meaning the nest will hang a little. Although seemingly dangerous, these nests typically stay put, and these birds keep them safe.
Golden-crowned kinglets will put their nests in crooks and crannies of branches to balance them and keep them as far up as possible to prevent predators from eating their eggs and young.
5. Montezuma Oropendola
- Scientific Name: Psarocolius montezuma
- Length: 20 in
- Weight: 18 oz
- Wingspan: 20 in
Montezuma oropendolas are the champions of pendulous nests and make their structures droopy like deep hammocks or sacks. These nests may not look like nests at all, but instead, someone’s lost bag has been swept up and caught in the treetops.
This bird is black and blends in with the darkness of its sack-like pouch nest, making them hard to catch and see.
6. Warbling Vireo
- Scientific Name: Vireo gilvus
- Length: 5 in
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 9 in
Warbling vireos will build their nest against a tree branch and wrap debris around the branch until they can weave the rest of their nest into it. These birds will keep a pendulous nest that droops downward and looks like an almost half-diamond shape.
These birds can build their nests on the flimsiest branch and somehow manage to keep it from damage from predators and other creatures.
7. Warbling White-Eye
- Scientific Name: Zosterops japonicus
- Length: 4 in
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 4 in
The warbling white-eye keeps a small nest that can accommodate one or two small birds. These nests look just as flimsy as the branches they are built on, but they work well and provide hatchlings with a high, safe place to rest and learn to fly.
A warbling white-eye will weave their nest onto two or three points on a branch instead of anchoring its whole nest on the branch.
8. American Bushtit
- Scientific Name: Psaltriparus minimus
- Length: 3 in
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 6 in
The American bushtit builds a bird’s nest that looks like a pouch, and it has no problem keeping hatchlings safe from harm. This bird crafts an ovular nest using forest debris to make its nest a pouch shape that will keep its hatchlings away from any curious minds or unwanted visitors.
These nests use one anchoring point to keep the whole structure up, but the bird may reinforce this point with extra debris to keep it strong.
9. Goldcrest
- Scientific Name: Regulus regulus
- Length: 4 in
- Weight: >1 oz
- Wingspan: 6 in
Goldcrests build nests that barely rest on branches for support. These nests look the same as a typical bird nest, but goldcrests don’t place their nest with the typical support of a tree. Instead, you may spot goldcrests high in the trees, crafting a nest on the margins of two small branches that barely offer support at all, making it pendulous.
Final Thoughts
Some birds are so talented that they can weave natural debris together to form pendulous nests or nests that hang from trees or other locations. These birds will make nests in places that often have humans cringing in horror at the height they are placed at and the perceived danger of falling out of the nest.
Many birds will make a bird’s nest that looks like a pouch, regardless of how high they are from the ground. These birds are brave and are willing to do anything it takes to keep their young safe and away from predators who have no problem climbing to get to them.