People usually say that the lichen help hide the nest by making the nest look like lichen-covered branches. Instead, they are built on plain, brown twigs that look nothing like the nest. The lichen does make the nest look pale or ghostly. A pale-colored nest seems to fade into the light beyond the branches, becoming almost invisible. Perhaps this makes it hard for predators to find the nest.
Sunlight bounces off a light-colored nest and keeps the nest from heating up.
One of the exciting things about science is that you are always finding new things you want to understand. Nature s Velcro Scanning Electron Micrograph of moss and spider silk. This natural Velcro makes it easier to build a nest and easier to change the shape and size of the nest as it fills up with growing, wiggling chicks. Mike Hansell teaches in the department of zoology at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, United Kingdom. This document has been accessed 2,891 times since Thursday December 3, 1998.