Clever Little Hummingbird Builds A Home With A Roof

"Ingenious" ❤

Few constructions in nature evoke a sense of coziness and warmth quite like nests — treetop homes built with love and care by birds to raise their babies.

But this particular mom-to-be found a rather ingenious way of making her place even cozier.

Bianca Caroline Soares

Conservationist Bianca Caroline Soares is no stranger to seeing hummingbird nests perched on branches in the jungle near her home in Paraguay. But on a walk last Spring, she spotted one unlike any she’d seen before.

This one had a roof.

Bianca Caroline Soares

Needless to say, Soares was impressed.

“I saw five hummingbird nests that day, but this was the most ingenious,” Soares told The Dodo.

Thanks to the shade provided from that leafy roof, this hummingbird's home was the nicest in the neighborhood — and it turned out to be a great place to start a family, too.

Bianca Caroline Soares

In the weeks and months that followed that first sighting, Soares continued to visit the clever bird's nest, observing the tiny family she'd built it for.

"She had two hummingbird babies," Soares said.

And on the hottest days, those babies surely benefitted from their mother's thoughtful planning.

Bianca Caroline Soares

Soares said she hopes the little mom's thoughtful planning will inspire people to take better care of nature.

The hummingbird's thoughtfulness certainly helped her own tiny family. In time, all her babies grew strong enough to set out on their own, perhaps taking a lesson from the design of their childhood home when it comes time to build their own nests:

Location, location, location.