koryos:Great dusky swifts nest where few other birds dare: behind waterfalls.Penetrating the spray w
koryos:Great dusky swifts nest where few other birds dare: behind waterfalls.Penetrating the spray without getting knocked out of the air when you weigh only 100 grams is difficult enough. But once the birds are behind the falls, they have to climb the slick rock face to find a tiny crevice just big enough to lay their egg in. Their small nests, made of moss and grass, don’t shield the egg and nestling completely from the spray, and when the baby learns to fly, it has to do so through a curtain of water.Yet the swifts have found a place no predator can reach, and they are well adapted to their wet, dangerous nesting grounds. In fact, they even sleep clinging vertically to the same cliffs, seemingly impervious to the spray.These are not the only birds to take advantage of this unusual nesting place- American black swifts, their close relatives, also nest behind waterfalls, though they prefer caves to sheer cliffs.Gifs from The Life of Birds. -- source link