From female penguins who create a unique call to orioles weaving elaborate nests, here's why we appreciate the hard work of a mother bird.
14 Facts That Prove Mother Birds Are Fascinating
Published on Feb. 19, 2025
Carrying the Load
Mama hummingbirds do it all. The ultimate multitaskers, they build the nest, handle hunting and feeding, and sometimes even build a second nest for the next brood while caring for their current hatchlings!
Working Together
Coparenting with a bonded male-female pair happens in about 81% of bird species, while single mom parenting occurs in 8% of the bird world species. Parents with help live up to two years longer, according to an Oxford study of 23 group-living species.
Learn how parents bond in the best bird courtship rituals.
As Strong as a Bird Egg
Bird eggs may seem fragile, but they are engineered like stone bridges to hold up under the weight of their parent. An ostrich egg, for instance, can withstand about 120 pounds of pressure before breaking.
Which bird egg is which? Here’s how to identify eggs by color and size.
Helpful Bird Dad
In a role reversal, the female Wilson’s phalarope may lay multiple broods in a season and then leave, letting the more subtly colored males take care of the families.
It’s not all about mom! Meet more of the best bird dads.
Homebody Mother Bird
Cabin fever? Not for great hornbill mothers. Working with the male—who has already proven his ability to provide food—females seal themselves with their eggs into a tree cavity nest for up to four months, leaving a tiny hole through which she (and by extension the chicks) can be fed.
Here’s how to spot different types of bird nests.
Amazing Nest Architects
African palm swifts take resourcefulness to the next level. First, they attach a platform of feathers to the underside of a palm frond with saliva. When the mom lays eggs, she pushes them into the nest and sticks them to the palm leaf, her saliva acting as glue.
Don’t let a female cardinal fly under the radar.
House Hunting
Male prothonotary warblers make a “dummy” nest to entice females during courtship, but it’s the discerning mother bird who picks the final site in a tree hollow and spends up to eight days decorating the nest with moss, dried leaves, twigs and even poison ivy tendrils.
Call of the Penguin Mothers
After an icy ultramarathon marching up to 125 miles to find food, an emperor penguin female issues a unique call to find their mate among thousands of identical father-chick pairs. When her partner answers with his distinct call, he and their chick can eat.
Quiz: How many female bird photos can you ID?
Keeping the Nest Cool
Climate control comes first for the least tern, which nests by the shore, or as their habitat shrinks, in sun-baked gravel parking lots and on rooftops. On the hottest days, the female may wet her body in the ocean to cool her brood as she sits on the nest and shades her eggs or chicks from the sun with her body.
Nest Weaving Wonders
Artists at heart, female orioles craft museum-quality hanging nests woven from available materials—from horsehair to plant fibers. Without tying a knot, simply using their beaks, they stitch architectural masterpieces that can last up to a year.
Mother Bird Security Team
In an unlikely pairing, peregrine falcons and red-breasted geese mothers form an alliance against the arctic fox. Falcons nest on rocky cliffs while mother geese nest on lower, wider cliff ledges or flat ground near the cliffs and sound the alarm when a fox threatens.
Shirking Maternal Duties
Female brown-headed cowbirds are brood parasites who famously outsource parenting to other bird species. Skipping nest-building and caretaking, the mother can lay up to 40 eggs and hide them in several other birds’ nests, sometimes putting the other eggs at risk.
Multitasking Bird Mothers
Just like in “Make Way for Ducklings,” mama mallard ducks are renowned for their dedicated solo care of the nest, eggs and ducklings. The male guards the female while incubating, for about 28 days. After the eggs hatch, female mallards spend 50 to 60 days finding water and tutoring the ducklings on finding food and evading predators.
Boosting Population Numbers
Northern flicker mother birds get a lot more help from dads during nocturnal incubation than many other bird species. In some cases where female populations are low, the mother may have gone off to lay a second brood with another male.
Next, learn about robin nests and eggs.
Sources
- Audubon, “Bird Mom Awards: The Good, The Bad, and Just Plain Weird“
- Audubon, “How Orioles Build Those Incredible Hanging Nests“
- Audubon Field Guide, “Prothonotary Warbler“
- Audubon Field Fuide, “Least Tern“
- National Wildlife Federation, “High On Hornbills“
- Mass Audubon, “Mallards“
