Birds as a group use any number of materials to construct, line and even decorate their nests. Plants of every type are conspicuous in nests, as well as hair, feathers, skin, shells or skeletal fragments of many animals. Twigs and sticks seem to be the material that many birds, large and small, choose to give shape to their nests. Herons and egrets build simple stick platforms, while ospreys and eagles contruct hugh piles of sticks that they add to every year. To soften the insides of their nests for the hatched-out chicks, songbirds often use grasses and other soft plant materials.
Robins carry mud into their nests and rotate their bodies to give it shape.
Ducks line their nests with their own feather down while yellow warblers and American goldfinches look for plant down from thistles, willows and poplars. Chicken feathers are also used on occasion. Some birds use materials that will camouflage their nests. With such a diversity of nesting materials, a snakeskin may seem unexceptional. However, there is a difference.