Nonfiction Monday -- Even an Ostrich Needs a Nest

Even an Ostrich Needs a Nest, Where Birds Begin by Irene Kelly. New York: Holiday House, 2009. Available now.

Birds' nests.
If you live anywhere near trees, you've probably seen birds' nests.
But only some birds of the world build their nests in trees. Some build in Cacti (ouch) , some in holes in the ground or a cliff, and some pile up a compost heap which warms the eggs as the leaves rot.

Some birds don't build nests at all, depending on their body or feet to keep the eggs warm.

But the strangest of all is probably the bowerbird -- who spends weeks building and decorating and sometimes painting a huge building of a nest -- only to have the chosen female build a simple nest elsewhere to actually hatch her eggs.

The lightly colored pen and ink drawings were checked for accuracy by bird expert, Margaret Hart. A world map at the end shows where many of these birds can be found.

Remember the title?
You would think that an Ostrich's nest would be featured in this book, right?
You'd be wrong -- no Ostrich. weird. I have to admit, with no index, it was difficult to determine this, but I searched every page for an Ostrich and found nary a one. A definate OOOPS moment here.

Links to other nonfiction monday posts can be found here. -wendieO