The first 2 or 3 of five wren eggs hatched a couple of days ago. The mom and dad made a nest right by my front door in a planter of pansies attached to the wall. I discouraged them at first (since it's such a high traffic area), but they were determined little rascals. The mom glares at me every time I go in and out the door, which is about 50 times a day. She usually remains undisturbed, but one time she flew in the house! That wasn't fun...
And here's the mommy wren.
Aww thats cute! Might be a Carolina Wren.
Yep, Carolina Wren
Resin
Yes, I should've specified. Definitely a Carolina Wren. Her white eyebrow gives her a mischievous look. And I've noticed the house wren nests here seem to be made exclusively of twigs, but this nest is mostly leaves and pine straw.
Sad news... Three of the Carolina Wrens hatched about 4 days ago, but this morning, I noticed one was out of the nest and laying on my concrete stoop, dead. There is no way it could have fallen out because the nest is a deep hole. So I figured it must have been sickly and the mom kicked it out. But then when my husband disposed of the hatchling, both parent wrens were squawking and having a fit. I couldn't figure out why they were so upset if they were the ones that ditched the baby. As the day went on, mama bird carried on as usual with the 2 remaining babies. Then a few minutes ago while she left the nest, I startled a larger brown or grey bird that was at the wren nest and it flew away. My first thought was that it was a robin, but I don't remember seeing a red breast. It was just a blur. It may have been a starling. Anyway, it seems to be clear to me now that the larger bird is trying to sabotage the nest and is the one who kicked the baby our of the nest. Why? That nest would be too small for such a large bird. I know this is just how nature works, but it sucks! I will shoo away the larger bird if I see it, but I can't be by the front door all the time! I hope that the other 2 eggs still might hatch. They were laid over a week-long period, so I guess it's possible.
I do know that cow birds sabotage other nests, lay there eggs, and I think I read that the other bird mom who builds the nest raises them...just a thought...
Maybe put a sheet of 3cm mesh chicken wire over the nest? The wrens will be able to get though the holes, but the cowbird won't.
Resin
was I right about the cowbirds resin?
was I right about the cowbirds resin?
Hmmmm... After reading your posts, I researched cowbirds a little. Apparently they are 100% parasitic moochers and don't take care of their own babies. They will either lay eggs with another clutch in hopes that the parents of the other eggs will raise their own, or if there are already hatchlings, they will sometimes kick out the babies and deposit their own eggs. I wish I had gotten a better look at the bird. I don't see many cowbirds around here, but occasionally I do. And one of their prime targets is wrens! So that could be what's going on. I don't think there are any non-wren eggs in the nest, but it's hard to see because it's so dark. I don't want to stress out the mom by shining a flashlight in the nest! I've been very vigilant today and haven't seen the renegade bird again. Mama bird has calmed down, thankfully.
once you get a look at the cowbird you won't forget it...dark head with a lighter body or is it visa versa? We had a pair here and I thought they were really neat looking...did some investigating and they aren't so neat after all turns out...I have a robin building a nest today ^_^ I can't wait to see some babies!
Apparently the female cowbird is more of a boring uniform grey. Indeed, the male is quite distinctive. So if what I saw was a cowbird, it would've been a female. Whatever it was did seem a pretty uniform color. Meanie!
Here is a female cowbird. However, I am currently having a run-in with one myself and she appears a bit smaller and darker gray than this one. If anyone is interested, my troubles are noted in Dellrose's thread about her bluebirds finally fledging.
