Spider Silk — Duct Tape for Bird Nests
6/7/20262 min
The spider’s web is an intricate piece of precision engineering. Made from large proteins, it’s sticky, stretchy, and tough. So it’s no surprise that many small birds — including this Anna’s Hummingbird — make a point of collecting strands of spider silk to use in nest construction. Spider silk not only acts as a glue, holding the nest together, but it’s flexible enough to accommodate the growing bodies of nestlings. And it’s resilient enough to withstand the bustle of raising those hungry babies.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMichael Stein· Host0:00
This is BirdNote. A spider's web is an intricate piece of precision engineering, and the spider silk it's constructed with is amazing. Made from large proteins, it's sticky, stretchy, and tough, so it's no surprise that many small birds make a point of collecting strands of spider silk to use in nest construction. Birds like hummingbirds, kinglets, gnatcatchers, and some vireos. [birds chirping] Golden-crowned kinglets, among the smallest of songbirds, build a tiny square nest. They often use strands of spider silk to suspend the structure from adjoining twigs, like a tiny hammock. [birds chirping] When a female ruby-throated hummingbird is building her nest, she collects the spider silk she needs by sticking it all over her beak and breast. When she reaches the nest site, she'll press and stretch the silk onto the other materials, such as lichen and moss, creating a tough, tiny cup. Spider silk not only acts as a glue, holding the other bits together, but it's flexible enough to accommodate the growing bodies of nestlings, and it's resilient enough to withstand all the bustle of raising those hungry babies. [birds chirping] Where we might reach for duct tape, these birds turn to spider silk.