Very interesting behavior for the Wren. I have several bluebird houses and for some reason, they always choose one that is not meant for bluebirds! this year the male is guarding 2 that are identical and never meant for nests in the first place -ornamental. My husband had to put a door on the back of both so we could clean them out when the birds are done. The Wrens, Titmice and Black capped Chicadees all checked them out before the blue birds laid claim. Now Mr Blue Bird has appointed himself as backyard garden patrol and no other birds are allowed near those houses. He is as aggressive as some Mockingbirds I have seen. Here is a link that might be useful: Garden tips, birding, plant and art articles

Hi Sara, You are definitely in a sticky situation. I would be hesitant to remove the wren sticks or leave the box open unless you installed a wren guard. More information can be found at the link below. Can you put up a third box for the blues? If not I would install the wren guard on the TRES box and leave the wren box open and see what happens. Are the boxes located near lots of trees? Maybe you could move it out in the open more away from trees. I believe a wren was the culprit for removing nearly all the eggs from my chickadee box for no known reason at all. The third TRES is probably another male searching for a cavity to nest in. I have witnessed multiple TRES come to a box to help other TRES when they are in distress like a HOSP fighting with them. They gang up on enemies sometimes which is cool. Please read below on the wren guard. I just found that forum recently. Do this first and then check back here for others advice. Good luck! http://bluebirdnutcafe.yuku.com/topic/5332/How-to-make-a-Wren-Guard

Anita, I have a similar situation in that my bluebirds are back for a second brood. The house wrens didn't bother the box during nest building (and the box had been empty for about a month and there were no sticks). Mama laid her 1st egg this morning and this evening, a house wren took out that egg and smashed it at the base of the box. I think that now I'd say "the rule is that there are NO RULES!" I've had house wrens attack several eggs or several chicks, never just one egg. As far as putting up a wren guard, the problem you have is that the house wren has been in the box. And where there is one house wren, there are usually more near by. The reasoning behind the general rule of putting the wren guard on the box when the 1st egg is laid is that the female is less likely to abandon the nest if she can't figure out the wren guard. It's also hard to say whether your female is 'with egg' and I'd hate to see her not be able to get into the box to lay her 1st egg, if that makes any sense. You could wait till it's afternoon and the bluebird hasn't laid an egg and put it on. If she can't figure it out, I'd take it off till the afternoon of the next day, etc. Good luck, Linda in NW GA...

Hi! A couple weeks ago we noticed 2 Carolina wrens building their nest in our fern right outside of our kitchen window. We were so excited! Then a few days ago we no longer saw them around and sadly thought that they had abandoned their nest. This morning we were talking about removing the nest from the fern and when I peeked, I saw 5 eggs! Now we are concerned if they have abandoned their eggs :( Is this possible? We haven't seen them around at all. What time of the day do they incubate? Would it be possible that we are missing their timing? We are not morning risers. Agh! I'd be so sad if by any chance we scared them away :( We have been very respectful, however sometimes we would open the window. I do not know how long the eggs have been there. I thought that as soon as they were close to being done building their nest, they had left. Do they first build and then lay their eggs? Thank you so much!