"Bird's Nest" is a bebop composition by Charlie Parker, written as a contrafact on the chord changes of George and Ira Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm." Parker composed the tune during his 1946-1947 Dial Records sessions in Hollywood, a period when he was fulfilling an exclusive contract with the label. The melody is fast-paced and agile, outlining upper chord extensions with quirky phrasing, flat fifths, flat ninths, and rhythmic unpredictability over the reharmonized rhythm changes. The head features characteristic stop-start phrasing with sequenced phrases and variations between repeats. Parker first recorded it on February 19, 1947, with his quartet featuring Erroll Garner on piano, Red Callender on bass, and Harold Stevens on drums, capturing multiple takes that showcase his improvisational fluency. The composition sits within Parker's core repertoire of "I Got Rhythm" contrafacts, which also includes "Ornithology," though "Bird's Nest" is less frequently performed than that better-known counterpart. Parker later re-recorded the tune in a strikingly different context with a string orchestra, reframing the bebop head in a lush, orchestral ballad setting. Tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse also recorded the piece in the 1980s with Claudio Roditi, Walter Davis Jr., Santi Debriano, and Victor Lewis, offering a post-bop interpretation that underscored the composition's enduring place in the Parker canon.
