Most young birds do not live to see their first birthday. They either starve, die from disease, or get killed by other animals. This story tells how baby birds in Minnesota live and grow up. Making a Nest Birds lay their eggs and raise their young in nests. Like a house, the nest might shelter them from rain and wind.
Most birds use plants to make nests.
Great-crested flycatchers add pieces of snake skin. Ruby-throated hummingbirds fashion caterpillar silk and spider webs into a tiny nest. Orioles use silk from milkweed pods. Most songbirds nest in trees, shrubs, or buildings. Geese and some ducks build simple grass nests on the ground.