Need help identifying hornet/wasp nest

[Jill Morgan]

Anyone know specifically which type of nasty stinging insect is the owner of this type of nest?

 

Or maybe its a birds nest? Quite a few at the zoo.

 

[Jill Morgan]

Not from an insect, this is a weaver bird's nest (usually have the entrance at the underside) or a worn penduline tit's nest (have the entrance at the side as in your picture).

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

There were quite a few, and all had the opening at the side.

[Ed Rooney]

Philippe is on the right track. Too bad there's no bird in the picture, to give us scale. 

[Guest]

There's nothing listed in the zoo website that equates to that sort of nest builder AFAICS, it does look more like a penduline's nest that has been through a rough bit of weather.

 

Were these in the open, i.e. uncaged?

[spacecadet]

Squatters, maybe.

[Jill Morgan]

They were not caged, but when I think about it, they were pretty much around the Africa Savannah section. And they seemed to hang in pairs in a tree like this: Nearest animals on display (although not out yesterday) are white rhino, zebra, some antelope.

 

[Ed Rooney]

Logic says if these nests belonged to insects the zoo would have to get rid of them because they might cause problems for zoo visitors. 

[John Mitchell]

It looks like a bird's nest to me. I have one hanging from my living room ceiling. Actually, it's dangling from a tree branch outside my front window, Couldn't figure out what it was until one day I saw a tiny bird disappear inside it. Very clever disguise. You've got to hand it to Mother Nature.

[TABan]

Some sort of weaver bird nest. Or perhaps Oropendola: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oropendola.

 

The way you identify a hornets' nest's residents is smack it with a baseball bat and then look over your shoulder while running like hell. 

[Jill Morgan]

Some sort of weaver bird nest. Or perhaps Oropendola: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oropendola.

 

The way you identify a hornets' nest's residents is smack it with a baseball bat and then look over your shoulder while running like hell. 

 

Nice shot, but that bird is just found in Central and South America. I'll keep hunting. There must be info on the web somewhere.

[Lynn Palmer]

I'm not an expert but I want to say they are Orapendula nests, a central and south American black bird.

 

Edit:  Sorry, I missed TABan's post and your response.

[Bhandol]

 

Some sort of weaver bird nest. Or perhaps Oropendola: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oropendola.

 

The way you identify a hornets' nest's residents is smack it with a baseball bat and then look over your shoulder while running like hell. 

 

Nice shot, but that bird is just found in Central and South America. I'll keep hunting. There must be info on the web somewhere.

 

Perhaps that bird is now a fully climatised permanent resident to your parts after a mass breakout from your zoo or a private collection. That happened with the Indian Ringnecked Parrakeets which can now be seen flying all over south east England.

Parm

[Radim]

http://www.superstock.com/resultsframe.asp

[NYCat]

http://www.superstock.com/resultsframe.asp

 

This link takes me to a page that requires a search term.

 

Paulette

[Bhandol]

Maybe they were deliberatley hung up in the tree's by zoo staff to make the African zone look more African....and they had some old penduline tit nest's lying around and thought the public would not notice the difference, so used them instead of weaver bird nests.

 

Parm

[TABan]

Maybe they were deliberatley hung up in the tree's by zoo staff to make the African zone look more African....and they had some old penduline tit nest's lying around and thought the public would not notice the difference, so used them instead of weaver bird nests.

 

Parm

I think you nailed it. It looks like the left-hand nest is hung from the branch using wire. You can save the image and zoom in on it a bit.

[spacecadet]

Either that or the penduline tits have learnt how to work scrap metal.

[TABan]

And I'm sure the native bird population appreciates the extra material come nesting season.

[Jill Morgan]

Maybe they were deliberatley hung up in the tree's by zoo staff to make the African zone look more African....and they had some old penduline tit nest's lying around and thought the public would not notice the difference, so used them instead of weaver bird nests.

 

Parm

 

You are right. I had to go into the city today so stopped in to the zoo on my way back. I went down to the African Rainforest Pavilion and asked one of the keepers there about the nests. She told me they brought them from Kenya to put in the Savannah area. So they are there to represent the weaver birds that are indigenous to Kenya. I didn't ask her if any of our Canadian birds found them useful. I"ll have to check come spring.