The European goldfinch builds a sturdy and compact nest and lines the inside with the softest materials they can find: hair, down feathers or just some fluff. For a few days I have been observing a pair of European goldfinches on top of the slowly uncurling branches of the royal ferns, I couldn’t figure out what they were doing.

They kept flying back and forth between the ferns and the orchard, where they are building their nest. But as soon as I stepped outside to take a closer look at the royal ferns I knew exactly why! The young shoots are covered in a thin layer of silky fibers. That will be a very soft nest, I wonder how they figured out to use this material?