Eggs, nests make colorful bedfellows at HMNH

Large and small, plain and colored, splotched and dotted, eggs from the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology’s vast collection are on display at the Harvard Museum of Natural History in a new exhibition of eggs and nests.

The nests, like the eggs, come in all shapes and sizes. Unlike eggs, which have the same basic plan, nests vary greatly in complexity, from the simple dirt mounds of reptiles to the elaborate creations of Africa’s weaver birds to no nests at all.

Scott Edwards, Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology and curator of ornithology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, said the new exhibit uses eggs and nests as an accessible way to educate the public about birds. Because for birds, Edwards said, much of their lives revolves around building nests and filling them with eggs.