Amazing Animal Architects

Many animals build amazing and wonderful homes. Beavers are animals that live mostly in the water.

They build their homes there, too.  Beaver homes are called dams.  The animal chews on trees until they fall down.

They use the tree trunk and branches to build their home. They use mud to glue it together.

Usually, these dams are 2 meters tall and 1.5 meters wide.  The largest dam in the world is in Alberta, Canada.

It’s 850 meters long!

 

Australia has many interesting insects.  One that builds an amazing home is the cathedral termite.

The insects use mud, chewed wood, termite saliva and faeces to build a 4.6-meter tower.

Each tower is home to a colony of termites.  The outer rooms are warmer, and the inner rooms are cooler.

The termites grow a fungi garden for food inside.  Colonies can spread up to three acres underground.

 

Sociable weaver birds live in southern Africa.  These birds create huge nests in trees.

These nests are the largest in the world.  They are also like apartment buildings.

These nests can have up to 400 bird pairs living in them.  Each couple has their own room.

Sociable weavers use large sticks, dry grasses, and soft plant fibres to build their homes.

The homes are very strong.  Some have lasted for over a hundred years!