Birds everywhere begin making nests at predictable times of the year, more or less everywhere. They start this process by selecting a suitable site, then scavenging around for material with which to construct the actual nest.

The idea is to find a remote place, then carefully seed a number of starter nesting points, consisting of various mangled objects, such as segments of broken furniture, cut up shoes etc., to act as distorted nesting boxes. These would be mapped and recorded in their raw state. Piles of inviting raw material for the birds to collect and use are then left in heaps over the general vicinity. This material consists of cut up examples of the sort of objects that were originally used to form the basis for Dadaist art works: ie, pieces of toys, features of doll's houses, cut out letter forms, small bones, multi-coloured twigs, diverse components, etc. Hopefully the intrepid birds will collect lots of these objects and incorporate them into their nesting endeavours.

You can check and replenish your raw material periodically, then revisit your nesting sites. With any luck at least some of the birds will have created nests randomly festooned with a combination of natural material and many of the objects you have left out for them.

You can photograph these, and when the birds have departed, carefuly collect, and display them as original art works.
-- xenzag, Mar 20 2006

Dada http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/d/dada.html
a few examples [xenzag, Mar 20 2006]

Bower bird with a thing for blue and white http://www.fritzhae...s/birds/bower04.jpg
[DrCurry, Mar 20 2006]

Ideal, ideal, ideal,
Knowledge, knowledge, knowledge,
Boomboom, boomboom, boomboom,
Nest, nest, nest.
-- wagster, Mar 20 2006


<answering machine>

" 'Ello and good fine day to you sir or madam caller. You have reached the residence of his Most Highest Excellency Field Marshall General Sergeant Major Admiral of the Fleet Air Commodore Lion of Kampala and Honorary Doctor of Laws and such other learnin's Idi Amin Dada. De general is not 'ere at de moment on account of he is travellin' to Lake Victoria to over see various important management an' admiralin' tasks in connection with a structural crisis in our marvelous Uganda Navy... de canoe got a hole in it overnight.

De general is also be inspectin' de zenzag project and lookin' to shoot up some 'o dem Dada bird nests on account 'o the General is not wantin' any more than one Dada in dis continent. An' that one Dada bein' of course de General himself. If you know de where is of the foreign man zenzag himself, you be tellin' de General mighty quick so de general can see to this zenzag man himself .. there a canoe with a big hole in it that de general plan on fixin' with a zenzag plug..."

</am>
-- ConsulFlaminicus, Mar 20 2006


You're talking bower birds, who have a real artistic approach to building not nests, but bowers to attract their mates. Individuals even follow different artistic schools, and in some species, juveniles apprentice to learn the skills required to build the bowers.
-- DrCurry, Mar 20 2006


Did you build a bower?
-- DrCurry, Mar 20 2006


Dr Curry - you have tempted me to put up a terrible bird pun. I must be strong and resist !
-- xenzag, Mar 20 2006


rises to bigsleep's rather feeble bait....

with a curlew of the lip you are presented with the works of Henry Moore-hen, now remade from bundles of twigs, in true keeping with the unfolding movement of the postmodernest.

Let osprey for my sins.
-- xenzag, Mar 20 2006


Please, you are robin this idea of its beauty.
-- phundug, Mar 20 2006


I can't albatross make bird puns very well.
-- notmarkflynn, Mar 20 2006


Wren will it all stop?
-- normzone, Mar 20 2006


+1
-- po, Mar 20 2006


[po], you are so gull-ible.
-- normzone, Mar 20 2006


This would really tern heads.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Mar 22 2006


//We are the superior beings.//

Maybe you needed a better opening line, [Ian Tindale].
-- pertinax, Oct 09 2006



random, halfbakery