They do this regularly and we always leave some nice big holes in the screen to accomodate them. This year, they raised two broods on two different high shelves. We have lots of pix and I'll probably post some more, but I'm really proud of this one.
These three fuzzy young 'uns were trying to figure out how to get out the hole in the screen. I took the shot but didn't realize (at the time) that one of the parents was outside holding a nice juicy bit of temptation.
Hope you like it!
jo
What a great shot! There little faces already have that "attitude" that wrens seem to have. You're so lucky to have them. I have a family in the back of my yard but they squawk so much when I go back there that I never get to see the babes.
We have wrens too. They ahve gotten used to us so when we go outside to do whatever they sit in the tree or on the house and watch what we are doing and keep us entertained with their music and antics.
Here's another shot
These were just minutes out of the nest... following the "road" on top of our shades to the other side of the porch (where the hole in the screen is).
Actually, one of the other little guys decided not to go with the others and flew all around the porch (flying into cobwebs and such) until I could corral him (or her). As soon as I took her outside and opened my hand, she flew right into the patch of coral honeysuckles where the rest of the family was hanging out.
We have helped raise many generations of wrens, and we love every one of them.
jo
Jo, what fun. It's great that you have given them their own 'room'. and great pics. I love wrens. Something about the shape of their little bodies. We've had killdeer and robins nesting this year.
gram
How do you get them to come back?
We had some 2 years ago, nesting in my windowbox under a lilac bush. I've read they don't return to the same spot to nest. Ours never came back, though I hear and occasionally see them in the backyard. I put out pockets for them in February, just to see if they would nest there. One pocket has something in it, but I can't tell if it is a nest, or it could be a house wren nest.
We feed them in winter on peanuts. My DH built a tray feeder that attaches to the deck railing. They prefer it when we scatter the nuts directly on the deck. They are so cute, hopping around with their tails in the air! My daughter calls them scooty birds.
Georgiajo,
Perhaps you can answer the mystery - do wrens reuse the same nests or do they build a new one? How many broods/year do you get on your porch?
In my experience, our Carolina wrens do not reuse the same nests - they build new ones. But they do sometimes build it on the same shelf as a prior nest (I guess this would be like using the same tree limb, out in nature).
We generally get one brood per year in our side porch and one brood per year on our front porch... not always in the same location though. So two broods this year on the side porch (one, right on the top shelf of my make-shift potting stand) was a real treat. But I should also mention that this is the first year in many decades that we are cat-less (for the birds' sake); and the birds don't really worry about our four dogs.
Ivy - Other than what you're doing, I don't see what else you could do to attract them to nest where you want them to be. As a rule, if you give them a suitable area and they don't use it, it probably just means that they have a better place lined up - which is GOOD thing!
Oh - I don't know much about other wrens, since Carolinas are our only "regular", although we did have one poor male house wren show up one year. He started about 4 nests in different areas of the yard and sang his poor heart out hoping to attract a female. Finally, I guess he just moved on. Poor guy.
jo
I had been waiting for about five years since I first saw the Carolina Wren arround here for them to nest so I could see babies. This year they nested in a hanging pot on my front deck and we could walk right arround it to get to the door. The babies were about half grown and I noticed that the mother and father were not coming arround anymore. We left for two days and when we returned I smelled something dead on the porch. Sure enough I looked and all five were dead. I tore the coconut liner out and saw a black and orange something like a bee get down into it. Could it have stung them and what would it be? Hope we have better luck next year. The wrens are somewhere in the garden still. Bev
Oh, that's sad, Dragonfly.
Honestly, I don't know what could have killed an entire half-grown brood and not eaten them. I suppose a yellow-jacket or something could have stung them all repeatedly. Or, perhaps, they ate something that had pesticides... or something. I'll ask around my birding communities.
Thanks Georgiajo I just love the little wrens even the house wrens well all birds I guess. Hope the build on my porch again next year. CUBEV
The Carolina wrens are coming up on our deck again. I am wondering if they are scoping out places for winter nests since it is so late in the season, or maybe for next year's nest. Maybe they are just looking for seeds.
