House wrens have selected our balcony

Hello...

My hubby and I live in a third floor apartment, and my "garden" consists of an 8x12 enclosed balcony facing the woods. It's very quiet and secluded and we have hummingbirds every year. This morning, we have noticed that a house wren pair have selected our balcony to build their nest. As a matter of fact, she is building it in a planter right by the sliding door!

I don't really mind this, but I will have to be on the balcony at least once each day to water, etc. My question is... will they tolerate our presence, though limited, and continue to build, or should we stop them now, before they get further in their building project?

Thanks in advance for your input and advice. Have a great evening!

Karen

Hi VA, They are pretty brave birds. I'm sure they'll be fine if your time there is limited.

That one is actually a Carolina Wren - note the long white eyebrow; House Wrens don't have that

Resin

Thank you Resin... you are indeed correct!

We have Carolina Wrens build in the paper box that is attached to our mail box every year.

They don't seem to mind us at all.

Not that I have been lucky enough to experience yet, but I have always read that wrens always come up with 'interesting' places to nest. LOL

yes they do. a friend found a nest in an old denim shirt pocket of her husbands once when she left the wash up for 2 days so they could get a good spring rain rinse and then dry well. the shirt ended up being up for mush longer and DH had do make do without it till the CW Mom was thru with it.
the same friend also had one nest in a toolbox that was kept under their tractor seat. It was either rarely closed or didn't close...anyway it was discovered one day as she and her 2 year old son were mowing a field. She told him that it was a "Toolbox bird" which he called them for many years. ^_^
One build hr nest in a hanging basket 1 ft from my front door that was left over from last year. I nearly discarded the old dead plants until she flew out at me. The only seemed bothered if I would go right up to the nest to look in.
They are very fun and joyful birds with their lovely lilting song. I hope you enjoy yours.

here's the hungry babies in my planter basket

The wrens that I have here are recycling a nest they made. On the shady woods side of our house there is an old discarded Rubbermaid cabinet, but the doors somehow were open. A nest was put together up in a far corner of that. The second batch of babies have just hatched ---5 of them ! I also have old nests on our open back porch. It is hard to believe that such a tiny bird can sing so loud.
Ours check out every flowerpot and item on the porch looking for bugs and/or nesting materials. I just know that someone was looking at a wren when the word "jaunty" was coined !! There couldn't be more than 3 or 4 feathers in that little snip of a tail they have. I live in Mobile, AL.
another bird tale -- I noticed recently a blue jay on the ground who was making more noise than usual. Walking over he flew off, but there was a small snake on the ground and I think he was trying to kill it. Was a non-poisonous variety. I never knew bluejays took on snakes !

Thanks for the input... loved the story about the denim shirt!
Unfortunately, they have not been back yet today...
but we'll keep watch!

They do indeed pick strange places to nest. I have one that has built a nest on a almost vertical bank behind the house. It has Ivy growing on it and that is were the nest is. I have never seen them nest on the ground before. Sure hope the snakes don't find it.

Carolina wrens are one of my very favorites. I have a pair that are here year 'round and are the busybodies of the yard. They have to thoroughly inspect anything that is new and will venture into the house if I leave the slider open. They nest in and around the enclosed fenced area behind our shed and make nests in the most unusual things. We found one underneath the seat of our old rider mower, in a small wicker planter that had toppled onto its side and inside an old hose reel that we hadn't moved in a couple of years. I guess they like it back there as we don't go in or move things around very often. I find them just as bold and unafraid of humans as the chickadees....I can get rather close if I don't look at them directly.

Have fun with yours!

Well, we live on a third floor balcony, so we're about 30' from the ground...
but i don't think she's coming back.
Our male hummingbird put on quite a show in front of her yesterday evening, trying to drive her away,
and I think he succeeded!
I believe her comment would have been,
"Come along dear, we don't want any neighbors like THAT!"

*LOL*