The nest helped Baxter herself find courage in an upbringing punctuated by an absent mother with severe mental illness.
He successfully petitioned the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to declare the lake a protected wetland, built an island there for bird nesting, helped run seminars to educate local villagers in ecotourism, and converted an abandoned teachers' dormitory into an ecotourist hostel — although, when we visited the village, we found the hostel boarded up and the windows broken.
Florida scrub jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens)—endangered, 20-centimeter-long bluish birds, first attracted biologists' attention almost 50 years ago because the young often stick around the nest to help the parents raise subsequent generations of offspring, a rare breeding arrangement among vertebrates.
The unique thermal and insulation properties of the nest material help to maintain stable conditions, which is the case of the Wood ant genus Formica.
Placing shiny things for the birds to take and stash in their nest might help.
A fake wasp nest will help because wasps are fiercely territorial.
One of the common mistakes people make is to directly pick up the birds, eggs, or to detach the nest, to "help" these abandoned creatures.
Last week, after a public outcry, the government dropped its proposal to spend our money on capturing buzzards and destroying their nests to help pheasant shoots.
Some Web sites claim the nests can help fight disease, aid blood flow, strengthen the body, moisturize the skin and even help mothers recover their youthful figures more rapidly after childbirth.
Professional fossil hunters and paleontologists traveled to more than 100 sites worldwide, from Argentina to China, collecting a variety of dinosaur egg types and nests to help explain how eggs were laid and cared for, and what they reveal about life among these mysterious creatures.
