Science Reading Lesson · Animals · Grades 2–5

Nesting Habits of Birds

A reading lesson on bird nesting habits. Students learn what a nest is, how birds use materials from nature to build them, the different kinds of nests for different kinds of birds, and how baby birds hatch and grow.

Reading Passage

Nesting Habits of Birds

Birds make their home in something called a nest. This is where a bird lives and takes care of its babies. Most birds lay eggs, and the nest is where they keep them safe and warm. When a mother bird is expecting babies, she will sometimes sit on the eggs to keep them warm until they are ready to hatch. The babies break out of the shell by pecking at it from the inside.

Think of a nest the way you think of your house. A house keeps you safe and warm and dry when it rains. A nest does the same thing for a bird. But a nest can be placed almost anywhere — in a tree, on a rooftop, on the ground, on a rock, or even on the side of a mountain.

Birds use materials from nature to build their homes. A bird might use grass, twigs, and sticks. They can also use rags, leaves, wool, and cotton. Birds want their nest to be strong enough to hold up in any weather, but soft and warm on the inside.

There are about 8,500 different kinds of birds, so there are many different kinds of nests. Sparrows and pigeons build small messy nests around houses and in trees, using straw, grass, leaves, cotton, and feathers. Barn swallows make nests out of mud. Tailorbirds in China stitch large leaves together with plant fiber to make their nests. Vultures and woodpeckers nest inside hollow trees. Tropical birds often weave hanging nests that swing from branches.

When baby birds hatch, they are not yet ready to take care of themselves. They cannot see, fly, or find their own food. The mother and father bird feed and protect them until they grow strong enough to leave the nest on their own.

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