작 은 동물 들 의 놀라운 건축술 Animal Architects And The Beautiful Homes They Build Most animals are content with finding a slightly softer and more sheltered space to sleep for the night , but there also wild animals out there that demand nothing but the finest accommodations . These 13 animals are some of the best architects that the animal kingdom has to offer . Home building is probably the closest that many animals will come to tool use , in the sense that we think of it . It seems that the jury is still out on whether or not nest ( or dam , in the beaver ’ s case ) building can be considered to be tool use – these animals do carry sticks , twigs and leaves for intentional future use , but they don ’ t “ use ” them on other things the way a chimpanzee uses a stick to hunt termites or how we use keyboards to write articles about animals . Sociable Weaver The sociable weaver , native to South Africa , Namibia and Botswana , weaves huge communal nests that can hosts hundreds of birds across multiple generations . These nests , woven from sticks and grass , are permanent . The deeper inner chambers maintain a higher temperature at night , allowing the birds to stay warm . Australian Weaver AntsWeaver ants , which live in Central Africa and South - East Asia , pull together live leaves and use larval silk to glue them together . These nests can vary in size from a single leave to bunches of glued leaves up tohalf a meter in length . Vogelkop Bowerbird The male Vogelkop bowerbird creates bowers , or small huts , out of grass and sticks to attract females to mate with . The consummate interior designers of the animal world , these birds arrange berries , beetles , flowers and other colorful and eye - catching ornaments into artisticarrangements to attract their mates . Ironically , the females do not actually use these bowersto raise their young . Compass Termite The compass termite builds large wedge - shaped mounds for nests . These wedges are roughly oriented in a north - south orientation , which gives them their name . It is believed that this shape helps their mounds stay thermoregulated . HoneybeesHoneybees entire lives revolve around their nests . It is in these nests , which they construct out of secreted wax , that they process their food and raise their young . European Red Wood AntsEuropean red wood ants build large mounds on the forest floor to house their nests . Several of these mounds can be linked as mother - daughter mounds for the antsto switch between in the event of a catastrophic event at one o the mounds . Red OvenbirdThe red ovenbird builds its nest out of clay and mud . These strong nests help prevent predation and , once abandoned , can provide other birds with a relatively secure place to live . Baya WeaverBaya weavers often build their elegant hanging woven nests in thorny palm and acacia trees or above bodies of water , where predators may have difficulty reaching them . The nests can often be found in colonies , although isolated ones do exist as well . wasp The majority of wasps actually do not actually build nests , preferring solitary or even parasitic arrangements . Social wasps , on the other hand , build elegant paper nests out of plant pulp , spit , resin and other materials . hese consist of internal paper honeycomb tiers ( similar to a honey bee ’ s comb in appearance but not material ) surrounded by a paper wrapping . BeaversBeavers build damn to flood woodland areas to a certain depth . They then build submerged entrancesthat allow them to avoid predators and to hunt for food in the winter . Their dams can be truly massive – the largest known beaver damn , in Canada ’ s Wood Buffalo National Park , is roughly 850 m , or 2790 ft , in length . When the water is deep enough , they may sometimes live in burrows instead . Montezuma Oropendola The Montezuma oropendola weaves its nests out of small vines and grass . They usually live in colonies of roughly 30 birds , which include a dominant male that mates with the females . Swallow Swallows build nests out of various materials , and some don ’ t even build any at all , choosing instead to nest in found or abandoned cavities . Certain species of swallow , however , create their nests primarily out of their own saliva . These nests are edible , and are considered a delicacy by some . Caddisfly