I really feel for you, house wrens (as I've written here earlier this month) killed our baby chickadees, threw them out of the nestbox and built their own nest on top of the chickadees' nest. So I have no love for them either. I have had to accept their presence here, but I think maybe there is something I could have done -

I read here on this forum earlier this spring that if you are very vigilant you can remove any nests when the wrens build them - as long as there are no eggs laid yet (at least this is the strict interpretation.) I did remove a wren nest once this spring but could have paid closer attention to that (whereas I paid most attention to the chickadees). I guess the idea is that if you keep discouraging any building they do, the wrens will eventually give up. I did not keep that up, and maybe if I had the wrens would not have bothered the chickadees. In the end the wrens raised a brood right in my yard.

I know there are folks far more seasoned than I in dealing with this and hopefully they will put their two cents in.

Good luck,

Donna

I did keep checking the nest and as soon as we found the twigs, we threw them out, but it was too late--the mama chickadee had gone. I don't know if eggs had gotten laid yet because I didn't want to frighten her by looking in there too often. I really hope some readers have some ideas. I love to have nesting birds, but not wrens! I even find their "song" very annoying. One year I found dead baby birds, not just ruined eggs. Wrens are terrible, IMO.

Sorry for your Wren trouble. Visit www.salis.org for good information, there is a section on how to combat Wrens Good Luck!.

www.sialis.org

Here is a link that might be useful: Discouraging Wrens

Interesting....I've seen Violet-green Swallows eject and kill baby Chestnut-backed Chickadees from nests before as well. I'd not known of this behavior in wrens. Is it possible to hang more houses farther apart so the wrens have a house to move into as well? Since they're excellent at ridding yards of insect pests, personally, I would want to keep them around.....but not at the expense of other native cavity nesters. Seems logical to me that since humans are the one's who destroyed their nesting trees, we need to replace them somehow.....

I cringe when I hear the HOWR in my neighborhood. They were no where to be found about 4 years ago but every year is getting worse and worse. I plugged the entrance hole in my back yard bluebird box when I saw them taking in their sticks. Fortunately my chickadees MADE IT before the wrens noticed their front yard box (still haven't noticed it) and the bluebirds nested in the globe of a street light instead of the back yard box.

I just can't get over the havoc they wreak. They'll toss eggs/nestlings even when they aren't going to use the box.

That would probably be due to the fact that HOWR use dummy nests and want to claim all the space they can for themselves. Territorial little buggars. I just had no idea they were so aggressive with other cavity nesters. There has to be a way to encourage them to nest in other areas of any given yard, but when said yard is small, I guess the options are nearly nil....

I'm so glad to be getting some replies to my post. The wrens weren't in this neighborhood at all back when we were getting bluebirds and tree swallows. Since the wrens appeared, we've found many nests ripped apart, pecked eggs and even a couple nestlings dead on the ground. Since our wren guard didn't help the poor chickadee this year (I wonder if it's the same bird that's used the box a couple years in a row, only to get kicked out by the wren), I feel we have no choice but to keep the box holes plugged for at least 2 years. We still get chickadees at our feeders so at least they'll be around. As for the wrens providing insect control, the tree swallows were very good at that also. Now they're gone as well! If nature provides controls, I'm waiting for something to get the wrens the heck out of here or maybe make their beaks drop off.

It really is amazing how they've changed their "spring/summer" range in my area. I'd never laid eyes on one till four years ago and then, only once. Now, all the time. They don't head north anymore like the field guides say they are supposed to do.

I would not mind them having ONE box but when they want to claim all boxes with the dummy nest, not good. I have successfully used a wren guard twice. Once they "find" the entrance hole, that won't work. I add my guard after the first egg is laid and don't remove it for 7 days (bluebirds) or 10 days (brown headed nuthatches and chickadees). By then the babies are too big for the wrens to pierce with that beak and remove. I've seen tapes of them tossing bluebirds and titmice nestlings. Hard to watch. The bluebirds, btw, were saved and all went to fledging! The box owner had a bird cam and monitored it constantly.