Wrens are pretty bold in the bird world. They frequently build nests really close to human activity, so they seem to know what they're getting in for when the babies come. Maybe they instinctively know their little ones will be safer from predators when they live so close to humans. I had a Carolina Wren INSIST on building her nest in my newly potted hanging baskets this year and even though I took out the nesting material every single day before it really got built, they kept at it. They KNEW I was there, that I knew they were there, and that I kept tearing the nest up on a regular basis. They still wouldn't stop. That says a lot. I took down that basket and put up an empty, with a bedding of loose dead geranium roots, then put their nesting material on top of that, hoping they'd accept it. They did. They finished it out the way they wanted and now their hanging basket is the closest to the steps and to the front door. They seem perfectly happy with it. After watching them from my yard as I worked, after a couple of weeks, it seemed they had abandoned it. I never saw them again. One evening, just at dusk, I tilted the basket to peek inside and scared the mother off the nest. Again... not a peep for days. I had to practically camp out at my living room window to catch one of them. I finally am seeing them again, regularly, as the little ones are keeping them extremely busy. They're flying in with lunch and out with fecal sacs all day long, but you never see them if you're out there. I wouldn't worry about your activity near their nest, like cleaning away spider webs. You wouldn't believe all the rowdy things I've done on that front porch since they moved in. They probably will have one or two more clutches, though, before winter, so you may want to set up an alternative nesting site and see if they'll accept it, if you want to use your front door again.

I was there when they had babies before. The mother was feeding it seagulls that hang around the water there. Their nest was full of white feathers. The reception to the park has a monitor with the webcam showing the nest but I never saw it online. They have a trolley that stops by the tree but you have to look very carefully to see the birds. Thanks for the link, I'll go take a look at it. Beautiful park by the way.

Geez...thanks so much! I've been feeding them here for over 20 years, but only seriously for about 10...the first 10 there wasn't a lot of info, and I winged it. Now I'm retired and have a lot more time to watch them! As you feed them year after year, you will notice that you will get more and more! I read somewhere that the young always return to within a few miles of where they hatch to breed the next year, so maybe that's why. I have gotten so I can recognize a few of them..one has a very distinct bend in her beak, 1 is fat (really fat) and just a little different marking than the others..I look for them every year. As for plants..just google hummingbird plants and you will get tons of plants. For a beginner, I would suggest Monarda(bee balm)..it is a perennial almost everywhere and gets bigger patches every year. The leaves are also what Earl Grey tea comes from, so great for us, too! I usually buy hanging baskets of fuchsia and petunia every year, too. As for vines, they like honeysuckle and morning glory a lot. Supposed to love trumpet vines, but my 15+ year old vines only get a couple blooms on them..I think I'm way too far north..maybe they like southern states better? I have a very large vegetable garden, and the females especially come bug hunting when their young have hatched, so that's a bonus for me! Good luck! And thanks for the praise! I get a lot of enjoyment from them!

LOL, I don't think there was teasing involved. They tend to be the mean ones. Perhaps they like to be part of the smarter group of domesticated birds. It was funny one of the first few days we had them they were hanging out in the barn and a chicken bumped into the male as she walked over to one of the feeders. He lunged at her, but she just hopped out of the way. Then one of my male and female pekins came into the barn right after and the new pair actually lunged at them. So my male, being quite a bit larger just lunged back (they never seem to bite, just threaten) and they scurried off. I have 4 males and I never see them fight, but the person I adopted them from she said where they were kept over winter, the male would fight all their peacocks, or might have been pheasants, I can remember which. They seem to be working out well though here though. No fights, just displays so far. They were outside the barn quite a bit today so that's a good sign. I do find it odd that the male will not go in the water. Pekin ducks are water fowl, they LOVE water. Muscovies are not water fowl. She has that boy wrapped right around her webbed foot. It's not that the pekin female wandered off because the eggs weren't hers. I think it's because it was right around the time the weather started getting nicer and they were getting water to play in outside. She started spending more and more time outside. They aren't the brightest. Hubby wouldn't have a problem with hatching the eggs, just buying new adult birds. A decent female adult is usually around $20.