Urban wildlife: Coots turn plastic waste into nest shelters
In Amsterdam, birds are increasingly using materials available in the urban environment, including plastic packaging. Analysis of these nests reveals how human activity impacts the nesting behaviour of coots and leaves a lasting mark of pollution in the ecosystem.
Coots, popular water birds, are increasingly using plastic waste to build their nests. In Amsterdam, where natural vegetation is limited, these birds utilise available materials, including plastic packaging. One nest could contain as many as 650 plastic items, including packaging dating back to the 1990s.
Analysing these nests offers a deeper understanding of how coots adapt to urban conditions. Plastic elements, which do not decompose, become a permanent record of contemporary consumption history and waste management.
The use of available structures by birds to save energy simultaneously poses a risk to young birds, who may be exposed to danger.
Researchers from the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden highlight that plastic in coot nests is a new type of geological trace. Auke-Florian Hiemstra points out that these nests serve as a distinctive record of human influence on the natural world. By analysing expiration dates on packaging, it is possible to reconstruct the history of urban pollution and waste management.
Changes in coot nesting behaviour
In Amsterdam, coots are changing their nesting habits, using plastic as a building material. This is evidence of their adaptation to the urban environment and an indicator of increasing pollution. Plastic nests are becoming unique time capsules documenting changes occurring in the ecosystem.
Research on this phenomenon can be of significant importance for urban ecology and environmental sciences. Analysing the contents of nests can help understand how human activity affects nature, as well as how these changes might be preserved in future geological deposits.
