Hi, Randy! Good to hear from you! Is this bird smaller than a House Sparrow? I have a little guy I just saw outside that looks quite similar. He is reddish brown (at least compared to HOSP) with white streak on each cheek like your image. I just saw him hopping around on the ground in quick, jerky movement, flicking tail as he jumped. Also at the feeder. Love the image! Susan

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.

Hi, I'm not that far south, actually. I have not heard even a peep from them! I have a birdcam (outdoor camera) and I have watched them feed whenever the bluebirds come to the mealworm feeder. They'd let the blues eat first but they would line up on the feeder's perch. I have never had this happen, that's why I've noticed their absence. I'll have to go through my videos and see when the last day was that I filmed them. Not that I expect that to give me much info. We did have two days that it snowed but that's happened here before. Snows one day, melts the next, just the way I like it! Linda...

There are several little beaks bobbing and weaving in the nest. Mother and Father Phoebe are feeding them together. One of the parents--looked like Father Phoebe--served up a bug with its wings still on. Father Phoebe was working with the bug for some time. When he delivered it, the bug's body was facing towards Baby Phoebe. Baby Phoebe gulped it down with no complaints. Both parents stand together on the stamped concrete under the deck. They constantly scour the walls of the house for bugs. Now and then, they go up to the nest for a look-see. I haven't figured that out. Maybe looking for fecal sacs? Anyway, I can gawk all I want at this little family and they cannot see me.