Spider Silk — Duct Tape for Bird Nests
About this episode
This episode explores how small birds, particularly Anna’s Hummingbird, use spider silk in their nest construction.
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
Topics covered
- spider silk
- bird nests
- engineering
- Anna’s Hummingbird
- nature
Keywords
- spider silk
- bird nests
- Anna’s Hummingbird
- nature engineering
- small birds
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