Centered on the birdhouse floor is a wide 3/4" tall cone, pointed up, with a wide wooden disk balanced upon it. Glued to the disk is a store-bought bird nest. The parent birds adopt the nest, line it with feathers and the eggs are laid in it.

When the eggs hatch there is typically a chick that is bigger than the others, gets more food, and bullies and crowds the other chick which reduces its chances of survival. When the parents bring food the chicks stretch their mouths up. The bigger, heavier chick will overbalance the nest, causing it to sag slightly under him, boosting the lighter chick higher to receive more food.
-- whatrock, Apr 22 2016

This idea touches my heart, and makes me believe in mankind again. Thank you for that. Love the idea. I hate finding the little runt of the litter, so to speak, on the ground dead. +
-- blissmiss, Apr 22 2016


//a store-bought bird nest//

What kind of nation has stores that sell bird's nests? I mean, OK, there's China, but that's a different thing.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Apr 22 2016


// This idea touches my heart, and makes me believe in mankind again. //

Blergh <copious vomiting>

You can't buck natural selection.

// What kind of nation has stores that sell bird's nests? //

It's probably a euphemism for something unpleasant. Best not to enquire.
-- 8th of 7, Apr 22 2016


Can't take a little joke can you, 8th. Wow, what a sucker.
-- blissmiss, Apr 23 2016


some birds break out of their eggs at different times in order that, if necessary, the older birds get to eat their younger siblings. just saying, 'tis nature's way.

I find that birds prefer to make their own nests and who can blame them. the idea of a tip-the-lady out of bed contraption is hilarious...
-- po, Apr 23 2016


//some birds break out of their eggs at different times in order that, if necessary, the older birds get to eat their younger siblings. just saying, 'tis nature's way. // I always wondered why Sturton was an only twin.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Apr 24 2016


Sturton who?
-- po, Apr 25 2016


Sturton Buchanan - the third and probably oddest of the brothers.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Apr 25 2016


any relation to the delightful Gordon?
-- po, Apr 26 2016


Sturton is very unlikely to be related to anything or anyone delightful.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Apr 26 2016


This is just avian socialism. Where's the incentive for birds to grow? Won't birds raised under this mollycoddling regime be disadvantaged when they eventually leave the nest and have to fend for themselves?
-- hippo, Apr 26 2016


But what about immigration - cuckoos, for example?
-- hippo, Apr 26 2016



random, halfbakery