nido-, nid-, nidi-, nidu-

1. The place where birds lay their eggs and then take care of their young ones after they hatch: Some warblers build nests out of small twigs and grass so they can lay small round fertile objects with a shell and provide a place for their little chicks after they are born.

All flying animals don't make nests; for example, some waterfowl and a few land avifauna lay little oval reproductive elements on bare rocks of ledges that project out from the face of a cliff near oceans.

Other species of the feathered vertebrates of the class of Aves, or birds, that live in sandy areas make little or no preparation for any nests; instead, they make bowl-shaped places in the sand where they lay their eggs and after the little ones hatch, the adults feed and protect them.

Larger fowl; such as, chickens use straw and grass to produce their nests or the human owners provide the material for their nests.

2. A home or house where people live: Jane and Bob live in their little cozy nest in the suburbs.
3. A place that is filled with, or frequented by, undesirable people or things: A great deal of news has been focusing on the nests of U.S. spies that have been snooping in various countries.
4. Etymology: from Old English nest, of Germanic origin and related to Latin nidus, "nest".

A reference to mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish that make more or less elaborate preparations for the reception of their new little ones: The first thing in this sequence is the selection of a definite nest site, in or on which the eggs are protected and the young are to live.

Two primary elements determining most nest preparations are the types of environments and the kinds of young ones when they arrive from their eggs or at birth are to exist.

Go to this Cliff Swallows of Santee Lakes page so you can see significant information about swallows and their nests.

1. To use or to build a place produced by a bird or another animal: Norbert has a barn where owls often nest.

Near the ocean, there is an area where seagulls are nesting by the hundreds.

2. To fit an object or objects inside a larger one or inside each other: The village is nested inside a beautiful valley.

Karen's little girl has Russian dolls made of wood carvings that nest inside each other.

Rene has sets of bowls in which smaller ones nest inside the larger ones.

A young bird, or birds, that are unable to fly away from where they hatched from their eggs: The nestlings are taken care of by adult warblers until they become more mature and can fly away from their abodes or dwelling places.

1. Relating to a nest or a breeding place for a female insect, frog, snake, etc: The nidal home of the spider was complex and made of a tough web to protect its eggs.
2. Pertaining to a special container or nest, in which eggs are laid by female birds and baby offspring develop: The mother chickadee lays very small oval and reproductive objects in a nidal structure, keeps them warm with her body, and some days later they hatch and the baby chickadees are fed and protected by both the mother and father until the little ones can grow and fly away.

1. Glands that emit liquid-material for an egg covering: The nidamental gland secretes the substance that produces shells for the round fertile elements.
2. Etymology: from Latin nidamentum, "material for a nest".

A nest or nests: Most people are familiar with nidatories constructed by birds in which they lay their eggs in the spring.

A nest or brood of pheasants: Sherry and the other zoology students carefully observed a nide of newly hatched pheasants, but they didn't stay there very long so the mother pheasant would return and protect them from the cold wind.

A reference to the construction of nests: In the spring, many nidicational birds gather material to make their abodes so they can lay eggs and provide protective conditions so the eggs can hatch and produce their young family members.

To live in a bird's breeding place: The gannets were nidicoling in their nests high on the cliffs above the sea.

1. Referring to birds that are hatched naked, blind, and too weak to stand or to feed themselves; thus remaining confined to their nests during their maturations: Nidicolous songsters usually stay in their dwelling until they are fully grown or close to being capable of flying.

Since meadowlarks are hatched helpless, blind, and without any feathers; they are obviously nidicolous animals that need to be taken care of by their parents.

Other nidicolous animals include mammals and marsupials (kangaroos, wallabies, koala, possums, wombats, etc.).

2. Living in the nests of other species or creatures: There is no doubt that there are nidicolous mites and other vermin that exist in the nests with the warblers.

Some nidicolous avifauna share nests with others of their species.

Relating to the process of developing or producing a nest: The nidificant persistence of the two birds in finding the right materials and the assembling of their breeding place was observed and photographed by Monroe from the window of his workroom.

The nidificant habit of the sparrows seem to be to return to the previous year's habitation and repair it in time for the new breeding season.

1. To create a nest for breeding and habitation: The birds were nidificating a residence in a tree just outside Tom's bedroom window.

Some spiders nidificate underground in order to protect their lodgings.

Some birds make a more or less extensive use of saliva as a cement in order to nidificate mud dwellings; such as, swallows, South American oven birds, and flamingos.

The use of salivary glands to nidificate their nesting places is done generally by swifts which glue small twigs to the inside of a chimney to form a tiny basket; or, as in the case of the Asiatic edible swifts, they just use saliva without twigs or anything else. Such places are harvested early in the nest-building season and used by some Chinese when they make "bird's nest soup".

2. Etymology: from Latin nidificare, "to make into a nest". © ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.

The phrase "for the birds" also means something that is "worthless", "useless", or "undesirable".

1. The preparation or construction of nests and the behavior connected with it: Although many mockingbirds and insects build their nests in trees, several animal species practice nidification and burrow or dig holes in the ground for their dens.

The term nidification is used in zoology and involves all the preparations for the reception of eggs or newborn animals and for their care.

Smaller species of birds provide more elaborate nidifications; such as, the abodes in hedgerows or bushes, or even on the ground where bowl-shaped structures are made of fine grass that is interwoven with horsehairs and moss or lichen so the refuges are not easy to see.

The thrushes use a foundation of clay and line the insides of their domiciles with a mixture of decayed wood and cow dung.

2. Etymology: from Latin nidus, "nest" + facere, "to make".

Birds which, when hatched, are immediately able to leave the nest, run around or swim and generally fend or take care of themselves: The nidifugae are born with their eyes open and they have a downy (hairy) covering and still possess food-yolk.