15 Most Amazing Nests

while humans live in houses apartments hotels and trailers animals on the other hand live in nests and while some are plain and boring there are a few nests out there that are absolutely incredible and bizarre here are the top 15 most amazing animal nests [Music] number 15 european bee eaters while most birds make nests out of grass and twigs european bee eaters take an entirely different approach that's because rather than nest the traditional way they create deep holes in cliffs in order to protect their young from the elements now generally speaking they'll make a long tunnel that can fit five to eight eggs at a time since they usually live in groups it's not that unusual to see hundreds of european bee eater holes pockmarking a cliff face this works well because their height makes it hard for most egg predators to reach them as with the exception of other birds it's near impossible for any dangerous creatures to get up there number 14 montezuma arapandolas if you ever happen to travel to central america you may see some trees that look like they were sailed by an army of birds nests and it's more than likely that these are the property of a montezuma or open dollar colony you see after choosing a tree that's nice and tall a male and his harem of 20 or more females will create a separate nest for each female with each being in the shape of a small bulging sack and taking about 10 days to build in order to make their nests difficult to access for nest raiders they usually make them on the slimmest branch as possible and the tree selected will often be far from other trees so that monkeys cannot easily swing to it and steal their eggs so we think it's fair to say that these nesting colonies truly are incredible number 13 the world's largest ant farm while most of the nests on this list can be found in the animal kingdom the world's largest ant farm was made with some human assistance that's because on april 15th of 2019 a pest control company by the name of terminex services officially had the largest ant farm on record it came in at 1.2 meters long 0.9 meters wide and 8 centimeters thick and was filled with a green substance that allowed the ants to tunnel around as they pleased according to terminix service technical director kevin hathorne the exhibit was created because quote as a leader in pest management we want to help people learn about insects and how they impact the world around us end quote thus while the exhibit was only temporary it gave many an interesting look on how ants go about their day number 12. caddisflies insects living in aquatic areas have it rough as they often have to fend themselves from fish frogs and salamanders that are more than 100 times their size however caddisfly larvae seem to have figured things out by using their own unique nest you see rather than just float around in an egg they will scavenge around their environment to make a natural suit of armor as by using materials such as rocks seashell bits and pieces of wood they will encase themselves in a cocoon that protects them from predators these nests have become such an inspiration that some human artists have made versions of them as creatives such as hubert duprat have made their own caddisfly cocooned using gold and pearls thus we think it's fair to say that these nests are exceptionally beautiful number 11. bees while this one may be a little obvious we think it's worth mentioning that bees and the hives that they make are some of the coolest nests in the animal world bees make their hives with the help of beeswax which they secrete in order to create a series of honeycombs when combined with a substance known as propolis which is taken from tree buds they're able to create a sealed structure that can partially protect against the elements the reason why the honeycombs themselves are hexagonal is because this is the shape that can mathematically hold more honey than circles with the added benefit being that these hexagons can be stacked side by side so when you consider that a similar amount of ingenuity goes into the choosing of a hive location and deciding how deep the dimensions of the hive should be it becomes clear that bees are very smart animals number 10 puffer fish while it's usually pretty obvious that a nest is well a nest with puffer fish it's a little bit different that's because rather than make a traditional nest theirs are in fact strange yet beautiful circular patterns on the seafloor the process begins when males laboriously flap their fins as they swim along the sea floor and although the fish are only about 12 centimeters long the circular formations they make measure in at about two meters in diameter this attracts the attention of a female and if she likes what she sees she will lay her eggs at the circle's center with the male then fertilizing them once they're laid what's interesting about the circle's center is that the males seem to place fine sediments there and these not only give the center a distinct look but reportedly causes the water speed to slow down by about 25 percent at the center point causing many scientists to speculate that this may be done to make it easier for the female to lay the eggs in any case after the eggs are laid the male will then remain for a few days to guard the eggs and will presumably leave once they hatch so we think it's fair to say that while puffer fish may be tiny the nests they make are pretty impressive number nine red oven birds if you've ever seen a clay oven and you probably agree that nests made by red oven birds are pretty close copies found throughout eastern south america the red oven bird is the national bird of both argentina and uruguay and stands apart largely due to its strange nest that's because they use a mix of grass clay and mud to create hold enclosures they will often work for months to build the best home possible once built it becomes the envy of other birds and while most will simply wait until next year to take it some species will attack the oven birds to try to have the nest for themselves and as such the oven birds often end up spending as much time defending the nest as they do building it regardless once the dome of their nest is built they then create a two-part entrance along with a foyer for roosting and an inner chamber where the eggs are stored this makes the nest much easier to defend against intruders which allows the baby red oven birds to be born safely number eight weaver ants while many species use dead leaves and grasses to craft their nests weaver ants stand apart due to them using living leaves to create their homes you see rather than scavenge for material a colony of weaver ants will instead find a tree and begin to attach some of the leaves on it together with them doing so as a team effort by pulling leaves with their mandibles to create body chains to reach far away leaves once the leaves are close they will then take an ant larva from their colony and tap their heads causing them to excrete a silk that can then bind the leaves together the end result is a colossal clump of leaves that creates a nest that is impermeable to water with the length of these nests being anything from just a few centimeters to half a meter long thus while these nests aren't perfect after all they have to constantly be made and remade due to damage from things like wind and intense rain they certainly are unique we are constantly adding more people to the top fives production team to bring you all the best content be sure to subscribe with notifications on and hit the like button number seven the world's largest nest while there are many large nests out there the king of them all was created by a pair of bald eagles back in 1963 located in st petersburg florida it measured in at a whopping 2.9 meters wide and 6 meters deep with its estimated weight coming in and an insanely heavy two tons however while this nest is the largest on record for one located high in the sky the mallee fowl is a ground bird that is able to make an even larger home while it is technically a mound rather than a nest it still functions in a similar way as it's essentially a massive pile of rotting compost and sand insulation that conceals its eggs well most are only about three meters wide and about a meter deep there are some out there that are absolutely gargantuan and the largest on record reportedly measured in at 4.5 meters in height and 10 meters in length with a total composition of about 249 cubic meters of material that weighed in at about 300 tons therefore while there are plenty of cool nests out there none come close to these monstrosities number six bia weaver birds of all the nests out there few are quite as cute as that of a bioweaver bird that's because it's essentially a teardrop shaped structure that looks like a little bird apartment now bio weaver birds are native to both southeast asia and the indian subcontinent and generally live in colonies of 20 to 30 birds however when it comes to nest building they truly are the real estate agents of the animal world you see male bio weaver birds first start by choosing a few prime nest locations with locations that are dry and high up in the trees being preferred they will then create the shell of a nest in this location and after creating a few they will start showing females their partially completed nests the female will then choose to mate with the male based on the location and the quality of the nest once impregnated the male will complete the rest of the nest often taking 500 trips in order to collect enough pieces of leaves reeds and grasses once the nest is set the female may add some finishing touches and the male may even help feed the chiclets but generally speaking he will go on to sell more nests to potential mates and he will do so until all of his shells are populated by females therefore while many animals are monogamous and will have one nest the bioweaver bird is the exact opposite number five fig wasps it's hard not to like figs after all they pair perfectly with cheese platters and their unique taste is loved by many yet what most don't know about figs is that they're actually the nesting place of fig wasps you see figs are actually more like flowers than fruits as they require pollination and in order to get that pollination to happen every species of fig has its own unique species of fig wasp that can pollinate it how the process works is that after fig wasps mate the females will fly into a given fig if the fig is male then the wasp will be able to lay her eggs in it over the course of several days they hatch causing the fig to turn into a wasp nest however if the fig is female then the wasp will not be able to lay her eggs in it and because the wasp has to break her antenna and wings to enter the fig she dies alone now this is well and fine because figs can only be pollinated with the help of the wasps and because they're such great nests the fig wasps are willing to take a 50 50 chance of death in order to use them however what this means is that many female figs dead wasps will be left inside of them while this may sound a little gross the truth of the matter is that you have little to worry about when shopping for figs at your local supermarket that's because female figs have an enzyme that fully digests the wasp after they die meaning that you can eat a fig that has eaten multiple wasps and not feel a thing furthermore many commercial figs are pollinated with the help of hormones making the wasps an unnecessary component so while finding a fig wasp in your fig may be a scary proposition the chances of you biting into one are slim to none number four cathedral termites if you ever visit australia's northwestern territory then you may see some structures that at up to seven meters high look like something out of a sci-fi movie however it turns out that these mounds are not made by aliens but teeny tiny cathedral termites now cathedral termites stand apart due to the fact that they make some of the largest non-human structures in the world relative to their body size these structures are used to protect themselves from predators and they cover them in a sticky saliva type substance that traps any intruders before they can make their way inside however beyond defensive purposes they are a model of animal engineering you see these mounds are made out of dirt generally have a porous surface that allows moisture and gases to permeate inside this helps control the temperature of the mound and despite the outside heat the inside of one is generally quite cool scientists are still undecided on exactly how this works although it's likely that either one the warmer air rises through the chimneys and pushes cooler air down into the core hence providing ventilation or that two the smaller tunnels allow external air to flow in and out of the mound hence introducing fresh air and maintaining the mounds appropriate temperature in any case the mounds are pretty prime real estate and this is helped by the fact that they're filled with thousands of tunnels that zigzag around the inside of the mound allowing the termites to transport food from place to place interestingly enough the mounds are also constant works in progress you see it's estimated that amount grows about 1 meter every 10 years with constant improvements being made in order to make it structurally secure in terms of time frame it's estimated that some are over a hundred years old as that can often take decades for one to fall over therefore we think it's fair to say that the termite mounds really are the fortresses of the animal kingdom number three sociable weaver birds while most birds have small nests that are large enough for just a few eggs sociable weaver birds do things a little bit differently that's because rather than live alone they create massive nests that can fit up to a hundred sociable weaver families found in the namib in the kalahari desert regions of southern africa these tiny birds take communal living to a whole new level by creating nests that are as much as three by six meters in size and while they may just look like giant mounds of hay it turns out that they're a lot more complicated than you may think the first consideration is location as these nests are generally filled with eggs and therefore a prime target for predators thus it should come as no surprise then in order to discourage these predators sociable weavers generally build their nests on tall skinny trees that are difficult to climb and if none of these types of trees are available they will often resort to telephone poles once a location is chosen they get to work weaving grasses and leaves until their nest is large enough to accommodate several of them however rather than simply create one large nest these nests are actually subdivided into dozens of little apartments where the birds will enter into their own private chamber these chambers are ideal because their temperature is usually about seven to 8 degrees celsius which is much cooler than the 30 to 35 degrees celsius temperatures that are often right outside when things get a little cooler during the night time the birds will often leave their apartments and retreat to an inner chamber which is far warmer and thus perfect for combating cold nighttime temperatures to top this off these nests often last for generations as like humans younger birds don't exactly like to move out and will instead build upon the nests of their parents rather than create their own as a result these nests of sociable weavers usually end up being massive in terms of size and scope number two paper wasps few animals are as annoying as a paper wasp found throughout north america they seem to make their nests in the most annoying places possible if you get too close to one you can easily get stung yet while many try to remove them the nests of a paper wasp are actually quite cool now the first step in making one is to find a good location the wasps generally search for protected corner areas indoor shelter and a large supply of weathered wood and this unfortunately makes your home or deck the perfect wasp nest location once the location is established they then get to work collecting materials this is done by chewing the wood fibers gathered from old trees fences and decks into a paste-like pulp and when combined with the wasp's saliva it creates a paper-like substance that forms the basis of the nest the structure of them is typically a network of about 200 tiny cells arranged together in a honeycomb shape and in each cell the queen wasp will place one of her eggs from the previous autumn so that they can grow into a colony of baby wasps once all are hatched and grown the wasps mate and by late autumn the paper wasps actually abandon their nests generally speaking all but the queen wasps will die once the winter passes the building cycle begins once again in the spring now while these nests certainly are incredible there are many humans who try to get rid of them if you count yourself among them then there are a few things you can do to get rid of a paper wasp nest well the best way is to simply use an exterminator if you want to do a diy job you'll have to dress in complete protection and spray the wasp with insecticide with the protection being important because there's a high likelihood that the wasps will attack you if they think you're the one trying to destroy their hive thus while the paper wasp nest may be a pain many just wait until winter time to remove them number one beavers while plenty of animals have cool nests none are quite as iconic as the beaver dam found throughout europe and north america beavers are a species of semi-aquatic rodent that are known for creating massive wooden homes across streams and rivers generally speaking they will first pick a location with slow moving water as this allows them to create their dam more easily once a location is set they get to work damning up a water source with large sticks logs and twigs using their large front teeth to cut down all of the wood that they need the end result of these efforts is a dam that is about one meter high one to two meters deep and anywhere from one meter to 100 meters in length now contrary to popular belief beavers do not actually live in their dams instead they build dams so that they have a safe pond where they can build their beaver lodge in essence a beaver lodge is built out of twigs sticks rocks and mud and has an underwater entrance and is inside their lodge that beavers sleep raise their babies stay warm in the winter and hide from predators as such the dam is just a part of a giant complex that the beavers call home and it's because of them that they're able to survive uninterrupted therefore while these dams and lodges can be a little bit of a nuisance if you are say trying to grow crops in the area by and large these nests are easily some of the most interesting nests in the world watch our animals playlist for more top 15 videos about animals sit back relax and binge watch all of our best animal related videos

Channel: Top Fives

Views: 258,722

Keywords: nests, animal nests, amazing nests

Id: MMOdUmEoljs

Length: 19min 24sec (1164 seconds)

Published: Sat May 22 2021