This bird’s nest is made of candy wrappers and face masks. Here’s what we can learn

Within the metropolis centre of Amsterdam, a seemingly unusual hen nest tells a unprecedented story of human impression on the surroundings. 

It is constructed from sudden supplies, together with sun shades, earphones, fireworks and even automobile elements. 

“It is a very particular nest, as a result of after we began amassing this nest, or ought to I say, excavating it, we reached nest layer after nest layer, and with each layer we went deeper in time,” Auke-Florian Hiemstra advised As It Occurs host Nil Kӧksal.

“So it seems this nest is form of like a historical past e book, and you might simply flip by way of it going again in time to the beginning of the 90s.” 

The Dutch doctoral pupil conducted a study published in February specializing in widespread coots, a sort of water hen, and located that these birds use plastic as constructing materials for his or her nests.

In late 2021, Hiemstra got here throughout a big coot nest in entrance of Allard Pierson Museum, the most important archaeological museum in Amsterdam. 

Contained in the nest, Hiemstra uncovered 635 synthetic objects, with the earliest layer containing a Mars bar wrapper emblazoned with a small FIFA World Cup brand from 1994, an occasion held within the U.S. 

“It is simply wild to me, because the wrapper appears so recent, so new, so the color pops. You possibly can learn the textual content, but you realize by coronary heart it is 30 years previous,” mentioned Hiemstra. 

Among the many different objects discovered have been foil from cigarette packages, a ticket to Amsterdam’s Nationwide Maritime Museum and a variety of quick meals remnants from McDonald’s.

“For some time … it form of felt like I am a McDonald’s archeologist, simply learning wrappers and lids and sauce,” he mentioned. 

There was additionally a extra somber discovery: round 15 face masks from the COVID-19 pandemic have been buried within the nest. 

What does it inform us? 

This uncommon assortment of recent trash has given Hiemstra greater than only a snapshot of the birds’ nesting habits — it has allowed him to hint the environmental historical past of the realm. 

By analyzing the expiry dates on the packaging, Hiemstra has created a “good timeline” of this specific nest web site. 

“Like stratigraphical layers, geological layers on prime of one another, having the ability to get this full image of round 10 breeding makes an attempt within the final 30 years,” he mentioned. 

“This nest tells the entire story of the entire historical past of this water hen within the metropolis.” 

It additionally reveals how the nesting behaviours of those birds have developed in response to the abundance of plastic waste in city environments. 

Historically, coots construct their nests from plant materials, which decays quickly. However plastic waste, being sturdy and non-biodegradable, permits coots to reuse their nests season after season. 

“Reusing your nest form of makes evolutionary sense so you possibly can simply reuse the bottom of the nest of final yr, add just a few new items so you’ve got extra time to defend your territory, to feed your younger,” he mentioned. 

However Hiemstra questions whether or not the man-made supplies are your best option for the birds. 

He says whereas face masks in a coot’s nest might present a gentle floor for laying eggs, the elastic bands can simply entangle the birds’ ft, making the nest a doubtlessly dangerous place as a substitute of a secure spot for his or her younger. 

Hiemstra describes the nest as a bodily manifestation of the Anthropocene, the period of human impression on the Earth. 

He says it illustrates how lasting human actions have been, from the rise of plastic air pollution to the urbanization of wildlife habitats. 

“If it is a good factor or a foul factor, that’s the huge query of my analysis — is it an adaptation to metropolis life or is it an ecological lure during which they suppose they’ll use [the trash] nonetheless they find yourself entangled and struggling?” Hiemstra mentioned. 

“And that is an enormous query that I am not ready but to reply, however hopefully sooner or later, I will know extra about that.”