Heartbroken! And Ticked Off!!

14 years ago

That nasty wren has struck again. Last time it destroyed a nest from which babies had just fledged and cracked and threw out 2 non-viable eggs. THIS time it has destroyed 5 beautiful eggs that were a week away from hatching! I am so mad I can hardly control my anger, and I have nothing to take it out on. I would have thought the blues would have defended their nest. The male is around almost all the time and the female leaves the nest very little. I feed them very generously three times a day so they won't feel the need to leave. I've kept an eye on it and chased the wren away once last week, but as you know, you can't watch it 24 hours a day. It had to have happened within the past hour. I'm taking the birdhouse down and I'm through. Can't take this. It hurts too much to see the female sitting on a tree branch looking around wondering what happened. I just hope she knows that I didn't do it!

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Comments (8)

tmjoseph
14 years ago
I know how you feel. I was ready to take down my houses along with every birdfeeder I have when the sparrows killed my baby blues and their mommy.
I got mad and got even. We now have a nest waiting for momma bluebird to lay eggs. Our tree swallows have 3 eggs in their nest now.
The sparrow trap we bought has worked wonders in the short time we have had it. Hardly a sparrow to be seen!
lisa11310
14 years ago
I will get yelled at...but do you have bird police in your area that would come looking for a missing Wren? Nough said.
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LadyJemima
14 years ago
Blumz, are you using a wren guard?
blumz
Original Author
14 years ago
Lisa, No Bird Police ... if I could manage to catch the wren, it would be history. Two of my granddaughters first saw the destroyed eggs on the ground and came running inside all upset. The 10 yr. old said she would give me her air rifle to kill the wren. But I told her I'd end up shooting out the windows of my back door neighbors. I'd never be able to zero in on the bird. Then she said why don't you put a mouse trap in the bird house - and I told her that the blues would get trapped also,. She tried and tried to come up with a solution.

Lady Jemima, Our subdivision is fairly new, and we've only been in this house a little over 4 years. We have a dozen or so varieties of birds that have found us, but only now has a wren showed up. I don't have a wren guard, but I went to the sialis site and have seen them. When I get over my heartache, I may get my husband to make one by the plans on the sialis site
dzyg
14 years ago
blumz...so sorry this has happened...a wren guard "may" have saved the nest. Check them out on Sialis.org.

I am in total agreement as to what lisa said...do you have a vanert inbox trap and an extra nestbox....that is what I use for HOSP alot but let me tell you...a vanert will trap any type of bird in the box...I have trapped HOSP, TRES, Blues, Downey Woodpeckers and even a chipmunk once with the vanerts and yes it will even trap a wren. A hole reducer on the box will prevent a larger bird from entering too.

Good luck and don't give up! There may be heartbreak at times but other times it is so worth it!!

Donna
blumz
Original Author
14 years ago
None of the other birds in our area have ever bothered the blues. They seem to dwell in harmony. The wrens are totally new on the scene, and I've only seen this one. But I know if there in a male/female couple I'm probably going to be dealing with them from now on. I looked at the vanerts, but am not sure I'd be able to deal with the bird once I trapped it. Since the wrens are smaller than the blues, the hole reducer probably would not be my best choice. We don't have the HOSP or the TRES for some reason. Chipmunks can't get in due to the great WBU pole and baffle. Even at my other place which we left a little over 4 years ago we didn't have the HOSP nor TRES. Only thing I had to deal with there were hawks and cats, which are much easier to handle. I'll check in to the wren guards and see if I can try again. I do have an extra box.
dzyg
14 years ago
Chipmunks can't get into my normal nestboxes as they are baffled, I was talking about my trap box, it is mounted on a fence post so I can easily move it to wherever I want it, that is what a chipmunk got into. When I talked about the reducer I only meant if you want to set a vanert and don't want a bluebird trapped. Not that I trap wrens...just saying...

Donna
blumz
Original Author
14 years ago
Gotcha, Donna. I am going to keep this in mind. I have read about the the vanerts, and the other deterrents before, but not had serious problems until this year. Thought I was going to be one of the fortunate ones that wouldn't have to deal with the MEAN birds.

Heartbroken! And Ticked Off!!

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