Dr. James J. S. Johnson

BIRD NESTS ARE IMPORTANT: THE BIBLE SAYS SO

And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.  (Luke 9:58)

NEST – this simple word “nest” represents an enormously important part of a bird’s life.  

Do you recall the first times you ever saw a bird nest, close up? Did you realize, then, that the nest was “home” to the birds who resided therein?

A baby bird’s beginning is experienced inside a nest.  From embryonic egg to hatchling, from hatchling to fledgling, a baby bird’s life adventures are “hatched” inside a nest of some kind.  Consequently, nests are the childhood homes to young nestling birds, plus parent birds repeat their multi-generational nest life as they reproduce and nurture their own next generation of their kind.

For most birds, springtime means mating, and mating time means nesting.  As soon as nesting begins in earnest, everything changes.  The earth becomes quieter, the sight of a bird [displaying to attract a prospective mate] rarer.  Despite the seeming tranquility, there’s much ado and excitement among the birds.  The joy of expressing the springtime, of finding or reclaiming a mate, has been exchanged for the silence and secrecy of very private moments as birds begin the work of creating their homes. 

[Quoting Sharon A. Cohen, BIRD NESTS (Harper Collins, 1993), page 7.]

And what a variety of nests there are, because God has programmed different birds to build and indwell different types of nests. 

Some nests are mere scrapes upon a strategic patch of ground.  Other nests are burrowed underground.  Many are designed to be camouflaged or otherwise hidden.  Some nests are tree-nestled demitasses.  Some nests are holes on the sides fo trees or cacti.  Some nests are mostly reshaped mud.  Some nests are located on shorelines of freshwater, brackish water, or oceanic seashores. Some nests are in rocks, often at high altitudes. 

Many bird nests go unnoticed by human eyes, yet our Heavenly Father always notices and cares about bird nests, everywhere and at all times.

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.  (Matthew 10:29)

The diversity of avian nesting habits displays God’s love for variety, as one would expect, since we see countless proofs of God’s love of variety in how animals (including birds of all kinds) are fruitful, multiply, and fill niches all over the earth. [See JJSJ, “Valuing God’s Variety”, posted at www.icr.org/article/valuing-gods-variety  —  see also JJSJ, “God Fitted Habitats for Biodiversity”, posted at www.icr.org/article/god-fitted-habitats-for-biodiversity .]

Accordingly, expect to find variety in bird nests.

A hummingbird hovers over a spider’s web, spending several seconds latching onto a thread of silk [to be incorporated as stabilizing material for the hummer’s coin-sized nest].  A woodpecker suspends his tree-drumming and instead works on excavating a nest hole with his mate.  A shorebird slinks into a quiet area unnoticed and lays her single egg on [a strategically selected patch of] bare sand.  In the privacy of their own world[s], often far beyond human ken, birds settle down to build their nests and breed young.  After mating takes place, attracting attention is no longer a priority.  Instead it is protecting the nest and incubating eggs that matter.  All living beings are driven to reproduce, and most lay eggs.  What makes birds different form other egg-laying creatures is that the embryo inside each egg is as warm-blooded as a human, and like a human, requires the warmth provided by its parent, or by an adequate substitute, to develop and to thrive.  Because it is so fragile, the egg must be coddled in a secure place until its occupant is ready to leave and face the rigors of the outside world.  Encased in its [calcium carbonate-structured] shell, the tiny chick’s only hope is that its parents [or foster-parents] do know what is best.  The nest the adult birds provide furnishes the warmth and protection necessary for the chicks’ survival.

[Quoting Sharon A. Cohen, BIRD NESTS (Harper Collins, 1993), pages 7-8.]

Nest are so important – because God made them to have value  —  that we should expect them to be mentioned within the HOLY BIBLE’s pages. 

Sure enough, the holy Scriptures refer to bird nests, repeatedly.  A few such examples follow.

Before reviewing those examples, however, it is worth noticing that the usual Hebrew noun translated “nest” is qên, which first appears in Genesis 6:14 (referring to “homes” aboard Noah’s Ark), where the King James Version of the English Bible translates it as “rooms”.  Yet, even in that Ark housing context, a qên was one of many temporal “homes” (i.e., onboard chambers, like “cabins” or “staterooms” within an ocean-faring cruise ship), used for security and protection from hostile external conditions.  Based upon etymologically related Hebrew words it appears that the underlying connotation is the idea of specifically claimed property (i.e., acquired and possessed as “private” property) that belongs to a specific individual, or to a specific group (such as a specific family).

1. Location, location, location —  where you nest matters! 

Where a bird nest is positioned is important.  Maybe the best place for a nest—such as an Osprey nest—is high upon a relatively inaccessible rocky clifftop, or within the higher branches of a tall tree.  [See Donald Stokes & Lillian Stokes, A GUIDE TO BIRD BEHAVIOR, Volume III (Little Brown & Co., 1989), page 163.]

And he looked on the Kenites, and took up his parable, and said, ‘Strong is thy dwelling-place, and thou puttest [i.e., you position] thy nest in a rock.’  (Numbers 24:21, with “nest” [qên] as noun)

And for many large birds of prey, such as eagles, nesting in high places is the way to go.  (Perhaps such birds feel “high and mighty”!)

Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 49:16, with “nest” [qên] as noun)

Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord.  (Obadiah 1:4)

Woe to him that covets an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!   (Habakkuk 2:9, with “nest” [qên] as noun)

No need for humans to feel “high and mighty” – God resists the proud but he upholds the humble-hearted.  (And pride routinely “goeth” before a fall.)

2. Multi-generational reproductive success is priority!

Birds of prey include hawks, eagles, owls, and more. Yet birds themselves are often prey to predators of many kinds, including humans who eat birds, both domesticated and wild—such as chicken, turkey, goose, and the eggs fo many kinds of birds.  But if one generation of predators greedily consumes all of a prey population, the next generation of those predators would be deprived of a food source, which would be harmful to both the predator population and the prey population.  Accordingly, it is good for a generation of predators to only eat a limited amount of a prey population, so that future generations of both predators and prey can benefit (form continued reproductive success of the prey population.  That stewardship principle—applying restraint in lieu of greedy wastefulness—is what Moses commanded the Israelites as a conservation law for their future entry into and settlement in the Promised Land of Canaan.

If a bird’s nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the mother sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the mother with the young; but thou shalt in any wise let the mother go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong days.  (Deuteronomy 22:6-7, with “nest” [qên] as noun)

3. Nests are where good parenting is needed!

How eagle parents treat their young has been a subject of some confusion over the  years, due to a less-than-clear-and-accurate translation of Deuteronomy 32:11.  That confusion has already been addressed in “Clarifying Confusion about Eagles’ Wings”, posted at  https://leesbird.com/2022/09/27/clarifying-confusion-about-eagles-wings/   —   so that discussion will not be repeated here.  Suffice it to say, here, that eagle parents care for their young!  Like many—but not all—animal parents, eagle parents go to great efforts to raise their nestling children, training them for life as fledglings.

As an eagle, he [i.e., God, in relation to His people Israel] stirs up his [i.e., God’s] nest, he {i.e., God] flutters over his [i.e., God’s] young, he [I.e., God] spreads abroad his [i.e., God’s] wings, he [i.e., God] taketh them, he [i.e., God] bears them [i.e., the Israelites as God’s people] on his [i.e., God’s] wings…. (Deuteronomy 32:11, literal translation, with editorial clarifications, with “nest” [qên] as a metaphoric noun)

This is comparable to how the Lord Jesus Christ compared His willingness to protect Jews to a mother hen’s protectiveness, as demonstrated in her welcoming and refuge-providing wingspread, noted in Matthew 23:37 and also in Luke 13:34.

4. Nests should be places of domestic security: “home sweet home”.

Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.  (Job 29:18, with “nest” [qên] as noun)

The patriarch Job, unto his “friendly” counsellors, once lamented his former life of blessing, before his torturous trials were suddenly dumped upon his head. Job related how he expected to live a long life of uninterrupted blessing, ultimately dying at peace in his own “nest” (i.e., “home sweet home”).  But, God had other plans—ultimately better (albeit bumpier) plans for Job’s earthly pilgrimage.

5. The ability, of birds to make nests, is God-given, i.e., God-programmed.

Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?  (Job 39:27, with “nest” [qên] as noun)

The eagle has designed (i.e., pre-programmed) abilities and inclinations to make its nest in high places, and to mount up into the air suing thermal air currents.  The eagle did not invent these designed traits – God designed the eagle’s physical traits and pre-programmed abilities, including the know-how (and the how-to) needed for successfully building eyries atop high montane places or in trees. [For more on this Scripture about eagle behavior, see “JOB Chapter 39:  God’s Wisdom and Providence, Exhibited in Wildlife Pair””, posted at  ttps://rockdoveblog.wordpress.com/?s=Job+39%3A27 .]

6. Nests are for raising children, i.e., the next generation.

Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God.  (Psalm 84:3, with “nest” [qên] as noun)

Notice that the sparrow’s “house” is parallel in meaning to the “nest’ of the swallow.  In other words, a “nest” is a “house” for dwelling in, and especially for raising young in.

7. Particular types of nests are selected according who will be living therein.

Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.  (Psalm 104:17, with “nest” [qânan] as verb)

In the above-quoted psalm we are reminded that storks are known to make their homes within the branches of fir trees.  (Storks are also known as predictable migrants—see Jeremiah 8:7, described in “A Lesson from the Stork”, posted at www.icr.org/article/lesson-from-stork .)

8. Wandering from the security of the nest can lead to many dangers.

As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man that wanders from his place.  (Proverbs 27:8, with “nest” [qên] as noun)

For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.  (Isaiah 16:2, with “nest” [qên] as noun)

One of the advantages of many bird nests is camouflage—being hidden form the sight of hungry predators.  There is a security that comes with staying inside one’s proper home.  Not that any home (or nest) is “bulletproof” from danger, but there are often many more dangers lurking about, the farther that one wanders away from home. (The same is true for young who are expelled from home.)  Consequently, the high mortality rate is why birds routinely try to raise more hatchlings than themselves.  In other words, two parent birds need to strive for replacing themselves with more than just two children, in order to mitigate the risks that their progeny will become prey (literally “dead meat”) before they progeny can successfully reproduce the next generation. 

[The overall concept of multi-generational replacement, as a matter of population biology, is discussed in “Post-Flood Repopulation:  From 8 to 8,000,000,000!” posted at  www.icr.org/article/post-flood-repopulation-from-8-8000000000 .]

9. Bird eggs are a valuable source of good (i.e., nutritionally rich) food.

And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathers eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.  (Isaiah 10:14, with “nest” [qên] as noun)

Isaiah stated the obvious—eggs are valuable; in fact, they are like a store of “riches”, nutritionally speaking.  This nutrition fact concurs with the mention of eggs as a “good” food, in contrast to bad food.  See Luke 11:11-13, where giving eggs to eat is recognized (by Christ Himself, the Creator of all food) as “good gifts to your children”.   

10. Places are recognized as “wild places”, if dominated by many predators.

There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow; there shall the vultures also be gathered, everyone with her mate. (Isaiah 34:15, with “nest” [qânan] as verb)

The context of this somber prophecy, of Isaiah, is God judging (i.e., punishing) the Edomites, because of the Edomites’ wicked mistreatment of Israelites (see Isaiah 34:6-8), with the resultant desolation of the Edomites’ land—which punitive desolation to include Edomite lands becoming overtaken by birds of prey (se Isaiah 34:10-16).  Thus, if Edomite lands are, in the prophesied future, dominated by the nests of predatory animals—including predatory birds—such lands are to be recognized as “wild places” (wildernesses), not fit for human habitation.

11. Flexibility increases opportunities to “fit” and “fill” different situations

O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that makes her nest in the sides of the hole’s mouth.  (Jeremiah 48:28, with “nest” [qânan] as verb)

Doves, which include pigeons, are famous for adjusting themselves to the most diverse of habitats.  Years ago, this writer (with family) was exploring an underground “lava tube” cave at Craters of the Moon park, in Idaho.  Inside this most inhospitable venue, perched within a crack in the cavernous ceiling, there was a nest with two pigeons therein!  Doves can live successfully almost anywhere – they are peaceful, yet flexible and opportunistic.  

12. Tree branches are often a hospitable home for nesting birds.

All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations. (Ezekiel 31:6, with “nest” [qânan] as verb)

The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth, whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation. (Daniel 4:20-21)

Even in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream he recognized that tree branches (a/k/a boughs) are good sites for bird nests!

Saving the best for last: Christ prepared for bird homes via nesting habitats and nesting skills.

And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.  (Matthew 8:20, with “nests” [κατασκηνωσεις] as noun)

And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.  (Luke 9:58, with “nest” [κατασκηνωσεις] as noun)

Behold the kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ:  He did not insist on having a “home” when He came to Earth to be our Savior.  However, as our kind Creator He even prepared fitting homes fo His animal creatures, such as foxes and “birds of the air”.

Speaking of “home”, it is the very Creator-Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is our true home.

Accordingly, settling (domesticating) specific niches in the earth—even migratory stopover homes—and utilizing home bases for family life activities is needful to fill the multitude of Earth’s multifarious habitats. To achieve this goal, God has providentially equipped creatures with physical bodies (with helpful anatomies and physiologies) and programmed bio-informational instructions (coding and equipping for habitat-interactive behaviors) that are fitted to the dynamic challenges of physical environments (and biotic communities) all over the globe. As earthbound pilgrims, we pass through this mortal life (Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:11), interfacing with an all-too-often hostile culture (Hebrews 11:36-38). We long for a truly secure home—where we really belong.

But, as Christians, what is our true home? It is not residential real estate housing (Philippians 3:20; Hebrews 11:8-14). Our true homes are not even the earthly bodies that we temporally inhabit, although they are the “tents” we know best (2 Corinthians 5:1-4; 2 Peter 1:13). For Christians, ultimately, our real eternal home is God Himself (Psalm 90:1; 2 Corinthians 5:6; John 14:2-6). As our Creator, He started us. As our Redeemer, we finish with Him. What a homecoming we wait for!

[Quoting from “Why We Want to Go Home”, posted at www.icr.org/article/why-we-want-go-home .]

Maybe there are more examples, of bird nests being mentioned in Scripture.  But, at least, the examples listed above show that bird nests are important, so important (to God) that they merit repeated mention, in the only book that God Himself wrote.