Welcome to You Ask Andy

Lynnie Bonney, age 9 of Jackson, Miss., for the question:

Does any bird really make a nest of fish bones?

A bird's nest is usually a cozy cradle lined with soft cushions of down and feathers. It is hard to imagine a bare baby bird being comfortable in a cradle of fish bones. Nevertheless, it is quite true that a certain bird does line its nest with, of all things, fish bones! He is the handsome, fish‑eating Kingfisher and the parent birds build their nest and bring up their young in the deep Southland$ right near where you live.

This amazing nest is built in a burrow, often in a bank or cliff and never far from the water. The youngsters will grow up to live on fish and they are introduced to their future diet as so= as they hatch. Their nest is lined with fish bones, fish scales, leaves and grass. The leaves and grass provide the proper padding necessary to bird nests, so the little fellows are not so uncomfortable as you might have imagined,

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