Editing Nest (section)

{{short description|Place of refuge for animals}}
{{other uses}}
{{multiple image
| border = thumb
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| image1 = Yelagiri bird's nest.jpg
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| image2 = A Night Heron building a nest.JPG
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| image3 = Swans with nest and eggs at Lake Constance.jpg
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| image4 = Artamus cyanopterus Mortimer.jpg
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| align = <center>'''Clockwise from top''':</center>
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| caption1 = The elaborate [[bird nest]] of a [[baya weaver]]
| caption2 = A [[Black-crowned night heron|night heron]] building a nest
| caption3 = [[Swan]]s with nest and eggs at [[Lake Constance]]
| caption4 = A [[dusky woodswallow]] parent feeding chicks in a nest at Mortimer Bay, [[Tasmania]], Australia.
}}

A '''nest''' is a structure built for certain animals to hold [[Egg (biology)|eggs]] or young.  Although nests are most closely associated with [[bird]]s, members of all classes of [[vertebrate]]s and some [[invertebrate]]s construct nests.  They may be composed of organic material such as twigs, grass, and leaves, or may be a simple depression in the ground, or a hole in a rock, tree, or building. Human-made materials, such as string, plastic, cloth, or paper, may also be used. Nests can be found in all types of [[habitat]].

Nest building is driven by a biological urge known as the [[nesting instinct]] in birds and mammals. Generally each species has a distinctive style of nest.  Nest complexity is roughly correlated with the level of parental care by adults.  Nest building is considered a key adaptive advantage among birds, and they exhibit the most variation in their nests ranging from simple holes in the ground to elaborate communal nests hosting hundreds of individuals.  Nests of [[prairie dogs]] and several [[social insects]] can host millions of individuals.