Hi all, I am writing to see if anyone has or knows about nests of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and/or Blue-gray Gnatcatcher that are in collections, private or otherwise. And if so, if it would be possible for me to borrow the nest(s). I am working with Ray Showman, who is an expert on lichens, to document the species composition of lichens that these two bird species use in the construction of their nests. Nests with some location data are best - even to the county level - but we would like to examine nests that lack any sort of collection information, too. We're most interested in Ohio nests, but would like to inspect any nests we can get our hands on. Nest collections, at least of these two species, seem to be fairly sparse in academic collections, thus our attempt to cast a broader net. As you may or may not know, hummingbirds and gnatcatchers shingle the exterior of their nests with lichens, and bind the affair together with spider silk. Amazing construction jobs, really; I couldn't build one of those things with training from Martha Stewart and a doubling of my hand-eye coordination. Lichens are organisms created by the symbiotic pairing of a fungus and an alga, and form those interesting scaly crusts that we see on tree bark and rocks. They are among the most sensitive easily observed organisms in regards to air quality; lichens disappear rapidly if pollution becomes too oppressive. These birds clearly use them in part for camouflage, as lichens make their tiny cup nests look much like a bump on a branch, but lichens have some interesting chemical properties that may come into play. Anyway, if you can put me onto some nests it would be highly appreciated. We don't have to significantly alter the nests to study them, so I can return them after the study. If you have any leads, please contact me privately at this e-mail address. Thanks! Jim Jim McCormac Columbus, Ohio Like nature? Visit my blog: http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/ Like birds? Join the Ohio Ornithological Society: http://www.ohiobirds.org ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]