Twigs is the sign of the House wren...they are relentless and can upset the chances of a second successful bluebird nesting. Wrens can and will pierce eggs and or throw eggs and young nestlings from the nestbox. They are bad news. I would just keep taking out the twigs or open the box for a few days and hope it moves on. Good luck!

Donna

Donna is right, that is definitely the work of the House Wren. I know the ones around here are relentless. I can leave a box open for days, and they will come back as soon as I close it. It is worth a try though. Once they've found that box it would be dangerous to let the Blues nest there. I wonder if you could move the box and face it in a different direction? If the Wren hasn't discovered the hole, the Blues may be able to safely nest there. Especially if you can put up a Wren guard after they start laying. I wish you luck.

Just an update. I kept pulling the twigs out. It seems to have worked, the blues are almost done building a new nest.
The wren guard is ready as soon as the first egg is laid.

Pulled out the wren nest for the 4th time. They are back again. My bbs in the other box are about 15 days old. Parents still feeding and attentive. Haven't checked in a few days for fear of early fledging. Guess I will know soon if all three are ok. A little afraid to leave the box open where the wrens are trying to build a nest. For fear they will go to the bb box. Maybe after the babies leave, I can do that. Will need a wren guard if the bbs nest again. I do have another box further away from the bb box, but no takers.

Well, I'm at a loss. The first egg was laid on Monday, I put the wren guard on the house that evening. Tuesday there was the second egg. I checked Wednesday and the two eggs were on the ground, broken. There are no signs of wrens trying to take over the house, there are no twigs. The male and female blue were checking out the house this morning. No egg though.
Is there any chance they can finish the brood? Or will they just move on?

So sorry about the eggs..the blues will most likely move on, they rarely renest in a box they had a failed nesting in. Once a House wren knows the hole is there a wren guard may not help...which seems the case here. Wrens don't always add twigs when they dump eggs, sometimes they just dump the eggs and move on.

Donna

I was afraid of that. They do keep checking out, but that's about it.
I guess if they don't do anything with it I'll have to move it to a different location.
i just hope they come back in the future.

Moving it will help, in fact it could make them renest in it if you move it. They won't see it as the same box if you move it. However with the wren there, hard to say what the outcome might be. If you move it, can you move it at least 50 feet away from any brushy or heavily treed area? This could deter the wren from returning to it.

Donna

They are still checking it out, the nest is intact.
If I move it should I remove the nesting material so they think it is a different house? How close to our house could it be where they would still accept it?

I checked again this morning, there are now three eggs in the nest. When I get home tonight I'm going to put the wren guard back on the house. Let's hope they are left alone this time. Just when I was ready to give up!

Just wanted to wish you luck? Could you turn the box a bit so it is facing a different direction...hopefully to confuse the wren, maybe??

Donna

Well, I put the wren guard back on like I said I was going to do. There are now five eggs on the nest and so far everything is ok.