nest box

noun

1. a box in a henhouse in which domestic chickens lay eggs
2. a box designed as a nesting place for wild birds and positioned in a garden, park, or reserve to encourage them to breed there

Example Sentences

When a mating pair arrives at their nest box with food, they will wait outside on perches.

From Science Daily

By analyzing over 320 nest visitations in detail, the researchers saw that the wing-fluttering display prompted the mate who was being fluttered at to enter the nest box first, while the one who fluttered entered second, determining the order of nest entry and mirroring the "after you" gesture observed in human communication.

From Science Daily

"We were surprised to find that the results were much clearer than we had expected. We observed that Japanese tits flutter their wings exclusively in the presence of their mate, and upon witnessing this behavior, the mate almost always entered the nest box first," explained Suzuki.

From Science Daily

The gesture was performed more often by the female birds, after which the male usually entered the nest box, regardless of which had arrived first.

From Science Daily

The researchers believe this behavior fulfills the criteria to be classified as a symbolic gesture because it only occurred in the presence of a mate, it stopped after the mate entered the nest box and it encouraged the mate to enter the nest box without any physical contact.

From Science Daily