HELP! another wren problem

18 years ago

bluebirds fledged last week. she started rebuilding immediately. nest is complete, i expect an egg any minute.

a PAIR of house wrens has been in and out of the box this morning. i am unglued. would it do any good at this point to slap the wren guard up or should i wait till there is an egg?

this may be a moot question because i just saw the mom BB enter the box. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

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Comments (4)

griffin_MD
18 years ago
Nina, it is my understanding that once the wrens know where the entrance hole is, a wren guard is no longer effective. You could try changing the direction of the hole, but I don't think that will work, either. Geez, those little buggers are a pain in the rear--maybe one will try to go in and mama blue will kick its behind and scare the begeebees out of it.
Kathy
bluebars
18 years ago
Often there is little you can do (legally) except remove their sticks when they show up. Sometimes you can relocate the nestbox, but who knows how far the HOWR will go.
The bluebirds MUST defend their nest and eggs. More than once, I have found a bundle of wren feathers (and no blue ones) in our backyard nestbox, where Mama has kicked little wren butt. I have to giggle thinking about that little neked HOWR hiding behind a big leaf to sing.
If the HOWR steals the first egg, sometimes the bluebirds get wise and more protective, but it takes mere seconds to puncture those fragile eggs, or toss tiny nestlings out. Nasty little buggers.
BlueBars
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Thanks for the replies - so far the House Wren has not touched the surviving two Baby Blues - and momma and Papa are taking care of them. However - I can hear the Wrens all around, and I also am removing sticks from the other boxes around the property. I should have tried a Wren guard - however I have never put one on - so was worried about the Blues not taking too it. But if they nest again, I will for sure try it - after the first egg is laid. One a side note - we have a dead tree in our back yard - that a wood pecker bored a hole in, and must now have a nest in it. I saw her chasing the wren a way - but her nest is pretty high up. Also - we have a Phoebe nesting under our overhang - this is her second year. I went and checked her eggs out - and there was a Cowbird egg in it! We also had two robins nest near our house - both nests were robbed of their eggs - I'm thinking the crows got at them. Unfortunately no Chickadee nests in our boxes this year.. but probably best because of the Wrens..... seems like they arrived early this year. So did the humming birds.
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crcst
18 years ago
Hey,Nina,I would put a wren guard on and try it.I personally have not had one fail.It's worth a try,better than nothing.
janie_may
18 years ago
Nina, I finally have my FIRST bluebird egg of the season and just 2 weeks ago I did find a few sticks in that box. I don't think the HOWR were serious about the box, just trying to claim as many as they can on their journey to take over every nest box in the USA. Anyway, I had a wren guard on that box while the BHNU were in it and they all fledged safely. It was after they fledged and before the blues started building that I found the sticks but my plan is to add a wren guard tomorrow. I'm worried since I know the wrens have found that entrance hole at least the one time but I still think the blues will be better off (stand a chance) with the guard added.

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HELP! another wren problem

Comments (4)

griffin_MD

bluebars

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crcst

janie_may

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