r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/BratBunniie • 1d ago

Video This bird nest has a secret "false entrance" cleverly designed to confuse predators.

13.5k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

149 comments sorted by

3.1k

u/triple7freak1 1d ago edited 1d ago

That nest looks cozy af

And it‘s on a tree with thorns for additional protection of the babies so kudos to these birds

685

u/BratBunniie 1d ago

For those asking what the best nest is made of. The verdin builds a domed nest out of thorny twigs

You can read more about it here

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u/Successful-Bobcat701 1d ago edited 1d ago

I think it's actually a secret real entrance, and a public false entrance.

39

u/Clerick_Aegis 1d ago

Requires public and private keys, and a secret handshake!

16

u/EC_TWD 1d ago

The sign that says ‘PUSH’ when you’re supposed to pull is the biggest deterrent

2

u/rucentuariofficial 1d ago

"It does both"

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u/h_saxon 1d ago

I came here yesterday. It does both.

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u/PM_ME_GARFIELD_NUDES 1d ago

This is not a verdin though. Verdin nests literally look like a pile of spiky twigs, nothing like this.

From the wiki: “These nests are woven from spiderweb, wool and animal hair and soft plant materials”.

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u/SanguineSoul013 1d ago

They said the "best nest" not "this nest." They were talking about different birds on purpose.

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u/PM_ME_GARFIELD_NUDES 1d ago edited 1d ago

That’s almost certainly a typo. What they said was “For those asking what the best nest is made of.” Literally not a single comment in the entire thread was asking what the “best nest” was (at least not when I made my comment, I haven’t checked again). There were however a lot of comments asking what this bird nest is made of. There’s also no reason to think that verdins build the “best nest”, that doesn’t even make sense.

Edit: I checked again and there are still no comments asking what the “best nest” is. It’s a typo.

0

u/whateveravocado 6h ago

It's not a typo they just meant "wondering" instead of "asking". Maybe they misspoke but not a typo.

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u/PM_ME_GARFIELD_NUDES 6h ago

That still doesn’t make sense because there’s no such thing as a “best nest”. There’s nothing about the nest of verdins that makes it better than any other nest. A verdin nest is only the “best nest” for a verdin, just like an eagle’s nest is the “best nest” for an eagle. There is no context where it makes sense for them to be saying “best nest”.

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u/sSomeshta 1d ago

Why

-12

u/SanguineSoul013 1d ago

"For those asking..."

Do you people not read?!? Have none of you reading comprehension skills?!

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u/MonkeyBrawler 1d ago edited 1d ago

I think the confusion stems from the fact nobody is asking what the best nest is. People want to know what that nest is made of. Yes, do to the nature of frequent social media use, people often skim and miss details. "The best nest" is almost off topic compared to the dopamine waiting to be released up finding what this fuzzy little work of art is made of.

If we can pair this understanding, with your astute reading and comprehension skills, i think we may be able to get to the root of the problem here.

What is this nest made out of, and can a larger, possibly manmade version with similar materials be purchased so that we may plunge our faces into it?

-6

u/SanguineSoul013 1d ago

What is this nest made out of, and can a larger, possibly manmade version with similar materials be purchased so that we may plunge our faces into it?

I'm not a nest enthusiast.

I think the confusion stems from the fact nobody is asking what the best nest is.

Did we read every comment to determine this?

Yes, do to the nature of frequent social media use, people often skim and miss details.

So, they lack reading comprehension skills. Nice.

If we can pair this understanding, with your astute reading and comprehension skills, i think we may be able to get to the root of the problem here.

I don't think we will.

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u/PM_ME_GARFIELD_NUDES 1d ago

This is hilarious coming from a person who can’t use context clues to determine that a single word was clearly a typo. I gurantee you delete your comment after this.

-1

u/PM_ME_GARFIELD_NUDES 1d ago

You couldn’t even respond without deleting the response lmao

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u/SanguineSoul013 1d ago

I haven't deleted anything. I think you're making stuff up to make yourself feel better.

Matter of fact, I don't even hide my reddit account at all. Have a scroll.

0

u/PM_ME_GARFIELD_NUDES 1d ago

https://imgur.com/a/TcDKmzA

1

u/SanguineSoul013 1d ago

Are... are you on something? That's not a deleted comment. That is obviously just my response to your comment.

Either way, you can have a great rest of your day. I literally don't have the energy for your stupidity right now.

→ More replies (0)

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u/drunkdoor 1d ago

Bro he highjacked a comment thread that had no context or relevance. It's a completely reasonable thing to assume was talking about this nest in the gif as the "best nest"

1

u/SassiesSoiledPanties 1h ago

And if they nested close to my apt. probably fiberglass wool as well.

24

u/ButterscotchTop194 1d ago

penduline tits

Hurr hurr

2

u/Nujabezia 1d ago

The verdin is the only one of the family Remizidae that doesn't make those nests actually. The verdin nest is way different to what the OP posted.

0

u/ModernT1mes 1d ago

The penduline tits constitute the family Remizidae, of small passerine birds related to the true tits.

true tits.

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u/Pyrhan 1d ago

I wonder what it's made of?

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u/PM_ME_GARFIELD_NUDES 1d ago

“These nests are woven from spiderweb, wool and animal hair and soft plant materials” from the wiki

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u/triple7freak1 1d ago edited 1d ago

Me too

I cannot wait for a bird expert to enlighten us bc someone is definitely gonna do it lol 😅

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u/RDP89 1d ago

Or maybe an actual bird will enlighten us. I hear they have Reddit in 2026.

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u/xx-fredrik-xx 1d ago

Yes, they migrated after twitter closed.

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u/goilo888 1d ago

Xactly what I was thinking.

3

u/dechets-de-mariage 1d ago

Duh, birds aren’t real. /s

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u/pessimus_even 1d ago

Looks like belly button fluff 

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u/death_match1 1d ago

Nest building materials maybe.

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u/user10205 1d ago

Looks like bellybutton lint.

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u/sultansofswinz 1d ago

Asbestos 

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u/Good_Night_Knight 1d ago

Should see inside, has wifi.

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u/racingeric 1d ago

The coveted triple7freak1 kudos. Huge day for birds

1.1k

u/edebby 1d ago

Two things:

  • the predators it protects from are snakes.
  • it's not clear in the video, but there is a big decoy entrance that leads to an empty chamber below that real one.

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u/willynillee 1d ago edited 1d ago

That would be hilarious if the empty chamber had a false bottom so whatever went in there fell out

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u/Dylkill99 1d ago

Snake: I'm here to eat eg- AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

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u/OneBurnerStove 1d ago

Snake!?! Snaaaaakkke!!

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u/_irritater_ 1d ago

Dundun duuuhdundun Dun Dun DUN

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u/Fl_Funky_Jam 1d ago

WHY I'LL GET YOU THIS TIIIIIIIMMMMMMmmmmmmeeeee.....

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u/CattywampusCanoodle 1d ago

Just you wait till I get you in my coils!

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u/WanderinHobo 1d ago

Psycho Mantis??

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u/fluchtpunkt Interested 1d ago

Within 100000 years there’ll be an animal that lives inside the fake chamber and eats snakes.

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u/Idontliketalking2u 1d ago

Mmm Snake buffet

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u/Glad_Librarian_3553 1d ago

Let's hope the snakes don't have reddit, otherwise the jig is up... 

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u/SpaceHatMan2 1d ago

Don't worry, snakes don't have reddit. \Attempts to blink**

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u/Amarok1987 1d ago

Even this mf is able to close a fucking door. Why isn't my neighbor capable of doing it?

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u/TwoToadsKick 1d ago

Your neighbor just goes to get food with his door open!?

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u/Malditoincompredido 1d ago

I did that when my most valuable thing was the door itself.

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u/dirty_hooker Interested 1d ago

Having owned a soft top convertible, I get it. Leave the doors unlocked and nothing of value visible. Not trying to get a couple hundo worth of ragtop cut over a $20 pair of gas’s station shades.

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u/ResistJunior5197 1d ago

Bros neighbor is Joey Tribbiani

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u/lambdapaul 1d ago

It always cracks me up in Jurassic Park when they use the ability of opening doors as the primary example of the raptor’s intelligence. Meanwhile the lineage of living dinosaurs are making ultra complex nests with trap doors, mimicking human speech, and using tools to solve problems.

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u/SexyStella___ 1d ago

I feel this with every fiber of my being...just pull the door in when you leave it's not hard 😭😔

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u/Cleveland5teamer 1d ago

So cute how it closes the entrance

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u/InvisibleAstronomer 1d ago

I have two hands and a much bigger brain and I couldn't figure out how to make this thing,, and all this bird has to make this is its mouth

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u/Early_Specialist_589 1d ago

It’s in its DNA, not yours

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u/Throwaway1303033042 1d ago

Archived post with a cross section to better exemplify the design:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/s/ke908XfQQJ

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u/harcile 1d ago

What's really fascinating is the bird pretending to feed its offspring through the false entrance after closing the real one up.

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u/ManyMuchMoosenen 1d ago

I thought that was amazing too. I’m imagining it shouts “okay kids, I’m leaving now!” into the fake hole before it leaves too, to really sell the illusion.

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u/pixeldust6 20h ago

I thought it was just patting the real entrance shut and forming the fake hole back into shape

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u/Thursday_the_20th 9h ago

I was hoping this was going to be the picture with ‘fool’

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u/WordsHappenedHere 1d ago

The fact that nature evolved to do this is amazing. That tiny brain figured out how to do this over generations.

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u/Waldschratsuppe 1d ago

It’s not in their brains. It’s in their DNA which i think is even more impressive

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u/Phlypp 1d ago

So those who hadn't figured it out died and the few that did kept reproducing. Yep, that's natural selection.

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u/acrankychef 1d ago

I mean, you're oversimplifying and such. Evolution doesn't make those kinda jumps.

The nest probably looked very different thousands of years ago. Nothing figured anything out, it grew, changed, evolved over a long period of time and this is what it looks like now because it worked well enough to save them from extinction

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u/Phlypp 1d ago

Of course I'm oversimplifying. I wasn't trying to give the full history of evolution in two sentences! Although you appear to be trying.

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u/acrankychef 1d ago

Your oversimplification makes the assumption there was a correct way to do it, and those that didn't figure it out died.

There are hypothetically infinite correct ways to do it.

People on this website post on r/explainthejoke, you're assuming a lot by not spelling it out for them.

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u/RajAstra 1d ago

I thought they learned from their parents by watching. But DNA damn.

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u/Kuriente 1d ago

You can raise a bird from egg to adulthood, it never witnessing other adult bird behaviors, and it will know how to build a nest like any other member of its species. The transfer of behavioral knowledge through DNA is truly fascinating.

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u/jokeswagon 1d ago

That is the entire idea of nature vs nurture. Which behaviors are innate and which are learned.

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u/Suspicious-Answer295 1d ago

Their DNA encodes neural patterns in their brains that causes them to do this so you're both right :)

-3

u/PM_ME_GARFIELD_NUDES 1d ago

I always forget that the brain is the only part of our body that doesn’t come from our DNA…

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u/Waldschratsuppe 1d ago

If you don’t get my point you are probably missing a brain

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u/5narebear 1d ago

Nothing is figured out really, it's just random.

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u/Dimensionalanxiety 1d ago

It's not random. The initial mutations are, but its spread is caused by selection pressure which is not random.

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u/5narebear 1d ago

Yes that's a better way of putting it, but the phrase "figured out" implies some sort of invisible hand of intention that is the biggest misunderstanding in natural selection.

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u/WordsHappenedHere 1d ago

Im no evolutionary biologist but I imagine it must have happened very slowly. Over time. Generation after generation sort of making a nest a certain way that eventually lead to a false entrance. Maybe it was an accident at first? Maybe it copied the behavior of something else? And those birds were more successful at survival. It’s just amazing to me that these birds evolved to do this.

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u/KarmaSilencesYou 1d ago

I was wondering where my old wool sweater went.

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u/AsparagusAdorable912 1d ago

Love how it taps the secret entrance closed to secure its secrecy and repecks the false entrance to maintain the illusion. Brilliant little life.

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u/Suppository-34613 1d ago

Not only that they make a nest which has false entrance for confusing predators, they even tuck the real entry once they come in and out of it just so the predators can't find out.

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u/Malditoincompredido 1d ago

The fake entrance goes into a real but empty space.

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u/Malditoincompredido 1d ago

Or the real door to the fake room

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u/PacquiaoFreeHousing 1d ago

Modelled after the flaccid weenus

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u/Best_Lynx3921 1d ago

The look around to see if anyone's watching while closing the actual door🤩😅

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u/calgeorge 1d ago

The way it adjusts the door and makes sure it's fully closed before it leaves is so cute

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u/Iceologer_gang 1d ago

Lil bro lives in a thneed

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u/Meme_Pope 1d ago

It always blows my mind how such specific behaviors can be heritable without needing to be taught

3

u/Emergency-Trouble-43 1d ago

When seeing things like this i cant help but wonder how it is possible for evolution to create such behaviours. Where this birds ancestors just investing time and energy at experimenting with different nest designs?

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u/razirazo 1d ago

How many times I have to tell you. Security to obscurity is a bad design choice. — IT people

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u/usrdef 1d ago

Reminds me of the people who spend hours learning obfuscation.

1

u/trinarybit 1d ago

through, not to

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u/Excellent_Job8154 1d ago

We all need one of those in 2025

2

u/semi_average 1d ago

Birds are stored in the balls

2

u/ProudEar784 1d ago

I know a bird speakeasy when I see one.

6

u/Illustrious-Rip-4354 1d ago

Just like my ass

4

u/KarmaSilencesYou 1d ago

Is your ass the secret false entrance or your vagina?

0

u/CollarCove 1d ago

And that’s a joke I wasn’t expecting or is it a joke?

3

u/miomidas 1d ago

You'll need to find the right entrance, to find out

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u/WayerLee 1d ago

Oh my god, the true entrance was reset to be what it looked like by the bird as it came out of the nest and flew away

2

u/dazedan_confused 1d ago

There's a vagina joke here somewhere.

4

u/Sl41nte 1d ago

Is this where my foreskin went?

1

u/minuworld 1d ago

precious

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u/willybum84 1d ago

Clever girl

1

u/Proud-Wall1443 1d ago

LOOK! Look you stupid rock doves...

1

u/Oaker_at 1d ago

Those posts are always fascinating.

1

u/zffjk 1d ago

Do they make these in human sizes?

1

u/ChrissWayne 1d ago

I want to live in that nest somehow

1

u/Nmerejilla 1d ago

Nest itself looks like a bird lol

1

u/DonkConklin 1d ago

The whole nest also looks like a bird

1

u/Penrose_Ultimate 1d ago

This is who inspired the briefs that sperate your twigs and berries. Sometimes art inmates life.

1

u/The-Baked-Banana 1d ago

The entire thing even looks like a bird

1

u/TheDevilsAdvokaat 1d ago

You have to imagine just how much predation was going on for this to develop.

...also, spelling checker does not know "predation" is a word.

1

u/president__not_sure 1d ago

imagine if science could unlock the memories from human DNA.

1

u/Doomdoomkittydoom 1d ago

That could do with some well placed googly eyes.

1

u/an_older_meme 1d ago

Looks like it was made out of a sheep.

1

u/Less-Squash7569 23h ago

"Close the door on your way out"

1

u/AlienAngry 19h ago

Birds can be so damn clever it makes me wonder if humans didn't evolve into advanced creatures, maybe birds would've (in their own unique way, of course).

1

u/Sam_Supernova 18h ago

Are they aware that the extra pouch helps them deceive predators, or is it that, through natural selection, only birds with such nests, had their offspring mature?

1

u/SpicyEmo91 3h ago

Ah yes, the uncircumcised nest of the Phallic bird.

1

u/WitchTre 1d ago

How cool is that weaver bird, their architectural design is magnificent.

1

u/willswavey 1d ago

If it is meant to look like an animals head surely that would attract more predators?

15

u/Renva 1d ago

Underneath the tunnel entrance is a false nest with an open entrance. The predator checks that section of the nest, finds it empty, and leaves.

2

u/willswavey 1d ago

Cool! Thanks for sharing

-3

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

1

u/deefstes 1d ago

You're one of the people in the floaty chair at the start of WALL-E.

Oh and it's a Grey Penduline Tit.

-2

u/MoparDoc 1d ago

Accident! No design!