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howr

18 years ago

What am I to do? HOWR killed all five of my eggs last month and it won't let my BB box alone. Momma and Poppa Blue are still around. Fly in and out of box, hang around the yard but are not re-building.

HOWR has two boxes of it's own.

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Comments (11)

anita55
18 years ago
I would clean out all the boxes and close them up for the season. Sorry but I think it's better not to let them nest than to lose them to wrens.

Anita
bluebars
18 years ago
That would discourage me too. House wrens are not good neighbors. They will pierce eggs and/or remove them, and toss young from the nest to die, as well as filling all nearby cavities with dummy nests to prevent competition.
If the bluebirds are outnumbered, inexperienced, or just happen to be away at the moment, their nests and young are often doomed.
Are you intentionally hosting house wrens? If so, then don't endanger the others. Either take the extra boxes down, or use hole reducers so that bluebirds cannot enter and be tempted into nesting with a false sense of security, and wasting precious time and energy only to have their young killed. Then, you can at least hope that the bluebirds can find safe accommodations elsewhere. They DO have time for another nesting!
Or, perhaps you could find a more suitable location for bluebird nestboxes, well away from the HOWR territory. Bet describes HOWR territory on her website linked below.
Bluebars

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.sialis.org/wrens.htm
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I have almost the same thing on one of my trails now,To give you some backround,Box"A" was up ,dees moved in and layed eggs,Then I saw a Tree swallow checking the box,so I put up Box "B" 10-15 feet away for the Tree Swallow knowing that they will nest in a paired box.Well the Tree Swallow does not show up again.The dees eggs hatch,5 nestlings.We get some wind a rain for a few days after.I monitor the dees box,only 3 nestlings,not sure what happened(bad weather or Wren) I let things be.2-3 days later only 2 chicks.About 1 week later I see a House Wren on Box "B" singing,adding sticks,I remove sticks every day for 4-5 days.The whole time the dees are defending Box "A" very good.Well today was fledge day for the dees.I go monitor the boxes from a distance,I see dees and House Wren hanging around,As I look closer I see a Tree Swallow peeking out of Box "B" and he is not budging.The Wrens are going nuts.A few hours later ,I again monitor from a distance,I do not see the dees ,today is day 16 (Fledged) for them.Now the the Wren have moved over to Box "A".The Tree Swallows remained in the entrance of Box"B" for the rest of the day,only leaving for very short times.So,Should I continue to deter the wrens,or should I expect these two to get along OK since the boxes are so close. Matt
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The story doesn't end there, I'm afraid. As I said, I plugged the hole in the nest box where the TUTIs nested. While I was distracted with them, a pair of bluebirds who have been hanging around here started a nest in my second video box which is in my back yard. I hadn't been paying enough attention because I had intended to put that one out of commission also. By the time I turned my attention to that box, the nest was almost done. Mama has been working on the nest and at the same time working with Daddy to feed the 3 (maybe 4) fledglings from their first brood which grew up somewhere else (I'd seen the parents come to my feeder and carry mealies off beyond my yard a few houses/never did find where the nest was; I'm guessing they got evicted by our little brown bird 'friend'). So for the last few days I have been so happy to see the whole family in my backyard, all 5 or 6 of them. They go back and forth from the mealie feeder to the top of the nest box which is not far away. Anyway, I WILL be monitoring the box as carefully as I can. My husband rigged up a cord that goes from the nest box to inside my kitchen. If I see a HOWR on the box or in the box, I pull on the cord and can shake the nestbox! Hope I never have to use it. The box is also easier to get to than the one in the front (no steps, yeah!). I have evidence that having the whole BB family around will offer them a lot of protection. As I watched (and recorded), a HOWR went into the nest box & started to pick at the nesting material with the intention, I'm sure, of throwing it out the hole. However, 'The Family' showed up and blocked the HOWR IN the box. I swear that HOWR must sit somewhere and watch the BBs cause it had the guts to go into the nest while Mama is actively in and out of the nestbox while working on the nest. Actually prior to getting trapped in the box that time, the HOWR had gone into the box & started picking at the pine needles but I chased it out quickly. So if you go to my dropshots page (guest password birdbrain), there's a new video 'HOWR gets trapped in box by bluebirds'. If you listen carefully to the video, you can hear the bluebirds 'chatting' while the HOWR quivers at the bottom of the nest. Not sure what the quivering is all about but I know that some animals (like cats, for instance) 'quiver' in anticipation of pouncing/striking. You can see that it tries to get out the hole twice to no avail (it seems to 'throw' itself at the hole). I was afraid that one of the parents was going to go into the box and get hurt. Yes, maybe there would have been a battle and the bluebirds MIGHT have won but I didn't want to take the chance so I opened the back door (this was before I had my 'shaker cord'). My two male dogs got out in front of me and not only chased away the bluebirds but also the wren. Amazing video, though! The nest is done now and when the first egg is laid, up goes the wren guard, and I go into active monitoring. Blessings, Lina... Here is a link that might be useful: Video HOWR gets trapped in box by BBs
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I had shut the box again on Monday. Tuesday afternoon I went down and there was a wren nest, cannot believe how quickly she built that thing. As I was removing it I noticed there was a spot for a nestcup but there was not any nestcup material in it as of yet. I already had it half way out anyway at that point. I shut it again afterwards though and momma Blue was watching me. Today I went down and there is a Bluebird nest in it, not finished but almost. I didn't see or hear the wren so I have no clue if it went elsewhere or not. There are lots of natural places in the woods down there for that wren so hopefully it went elsewhere and won't wreck havoc on the Blues nest. Donna
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Wow sorry Linda, I hear your pain. We have HOWR here every summer and we did lose 1 egg (of four) in July 2007. But I don't think our wren situation is as difficult as yours seems to be. We see them nearby occasionally, and often hear them not too far away. But we chase them off if/when any come on our property. And our parent Blues (Missy & Mr.B) both discourage them ferociously if they ever come near Missy's box. This pair has successfully fledged 41 baby blues in the past 3 seasons (8 completed nests with a 9th underway), without a single loss of either egg or chick to the wrens. We've made our decision not to use a wren guard for reasons we are comfortable with. And frankly we've heard just too many accounts of HOWR destroying nests in boxes that had wren guards installed. We know that many bird lovers willingly allow and even encourage House Wrens to nest and breed, and this can lead to their forcing many other songbirds out of a habitat completely. (The same could be said of the House Sparrows). So, I'm not sure how to offer you specific advice or comfort. I fear it will be up to you and your Bluebirds to overcome your local HOWR problem. Best luck to you and your birds, Kenn Here is a link that might be useful: Kenn & Temple's Bluebirds
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kvirginia
Original Author
18 years ago
Thank you for your replies.

So are you saying that I should NOT have houses up for the wrens if I want to keep my BB's. I thought if howrs had their own houses they would leave the BB alone. I will remove the howr houses immediately if so. I have had this pair of BB for 3 yrs and they lived along side the howrs with no problem in the past. Thanks again!
mulchmamma
18 years ago
I do not allow the HOWRS to nest in any of my boxes and all of those cute houses I used to have for the wrens have been taken down. You could leave them up if you plugged up the entry holes.

To me, they are worse than HOSPS.

In a wooded fringe, the HOWRS multiply fast-it's only a matter of time before they cause problems, so it's best not to encourage or tolerate their nesting.
bluebars
18 years ago
If the HOWR currently have active nests (eggs or young), it would be illegal to harm them or the adults. And I hope you don't think they will simply leave even if you do.
As the HOWR population increases, their predation increases as their offspring claim new territories.
Did you visit the link I provided above? There is a lot of valuable information there.
Bluebirds CAN learn to compete with HOWR, but often at great cost. Even so, they cannot be there every moment to protect their eggs and young; a HOWR can visit in silence and do their dirty deed in the blink of an eye, wiping out an entire brood of another cavity nester; bluebirds, even other wrens. In the case of chickadees, tree swallows, etc. they may only nest once a season, so they would have no offspring that year.
Some people absolutely love house wrens, but HOWR are not the best bird neighbors.
BlueBars
linda_1111
18 years ago
What about wren guards? I bought one a few years ago when someone here suggested it, but haven't ever had to use it. That could happen this year though, as they (howr) seem more plentiful than usual.
janie_may
18 years ago
I was successful with a wren guard, protecting 5 BHNU nestlings, but I think it was probably successful because the HOWR had not found that box before the wren guard was added. From what I've read, once they find the entrance hole it's hard to keep them from entering the box, even with a wren guard.

I agree, I think they are worse than HOSP. You can offer them as many boxes as you have room for and they'll fill every one with sticks and still want the boxes that bluebirds, chickadees or nuthatches have chosen. If I could not protect the species that I want to host, I would remove my boxes. No way I want to find eggs or babies tossed on the ground due to their dirty work.
crcst
18 years ago
I could not agree more.HOWR are way worse than HOSP.I would take my boxes down before letting them nest even once.Knock on wood,I have not had a problem yet this year.I have used a wren guard in the past,and put it up as soon as I hear that song.To me it's like fingernails on a chalk board.uggghh....on a better note,I have 4 new eggs in a second nesting and Mom and Dad are bringing the first babies to the mealworm feeder.They have to compete with the orioles.The blues are very polite,they sit on the branch and wait patiently for the oriole to leave.Very entertaining....Jane
imabirdnut
18 years ago
Where is info on a wren guard? Can you buy them or make them? I read the info on sialis.org but didn't understand the instructions. Does anyone have a picture of a guard? I have had both Carolina wrens & Bewick's wrens but so far no house wrens! It sounds like that is a fortunate thing!!! I enjoy the little Bewick's wrens & they seem to be very happy with the smaller gourds I hang in my trees.
renee_2006
18 years ago
I think it is ONLY the House Wrens that cause the problems. My understand is that Carolina and Bewick Wrens are no threat to any other bird's eggs or offspring.
janie_may
18 years ago
"Ima" both CAWR and BEWR are safe around other nesting birds.

Here are plans for making a wren guard. This one is a bit fancier than mine which I made from a Cheerio's box. :-)

If you haven't seen this website (Sialis) check out the other sections, too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wren guard

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