Every spring, our wildlife enquiries team hear many reports of weird and wonderful nests. The robin in this picture is nesting in a tool-tidy, but we've also had reports of a robin that nested on a kitchen shelf. One cheeky wren made a nest in the pocket of a dressing gown that was drying on a washing line.
Here we bring you some of our favourite wacky nests!
Nests in weird places…
Can you imagine a blackbird settling down in a moving bus?
How about great tits getting cosy in a cigarette bin?
If you think those locations seem weird, check out this video of a collared dove in a car wash, a pigeon in a ghost train and blue tits in a level crossing - nests don't get much more extreme than these!
Who needs twigs?
Why use twigs when you can use - well - almost anything else? Shakespeare knew his stuff when he warned 'when the kite builds, look to lesser linen,' in The Winter's Tale (Act 4, scene 3). Here we report on red kites using handbags, England flags, teabags and frilly knickers to liven up their abodes. Keep one eye on your washing!
Japan's crows seem to prefer a modern art approach to home decoration. They avoid the washing completely and go straight for the coat hangers. To me, it doesn't look like a comfy place to raise chicks at all!
Rogue builders
We all make mistakes, and birds are no exception. Would you build a home and forget to include a front door? Worse still, when you realised your mistake, would you tear the whole thing down and start again? Here are some nests that went wrong...
Have you seen or heard of any nests in unusual places? Please sign up to our community and share your nest stories below.
I didn't have a camera with me when I saw this sadly, but last Summer I was walking round Rufford Park in Nottinghamshire. We decided to sit down at a bench next to the lake, and on the opposite side of the path was a lifesaver/life-ring holder. After a few minutes of having noticed some excited chirping coming from, we watched to see two adult blue tits flying in and out of the very small opening in it with various bits of food in their beaks - lovely to watch and still the strangest place I've seen a nest!