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Question about a Carolina wren nesting

10 years ago

Under the overhang, outside the front of my chicken coop, I have a deck box with junk on the top. I discovered that a Carolina wren had built a nest inside a small container turned on its side. I was careful not to disturb it......although I do occasionally carefully peek inside. The babies hatched about a 4 days ago. I peeked this morning and the mama few out. I thought that was strange, since I thought they only go in there to feed the babies........but she was laying down in there. After she flew out, I got a flashlight and looked in and the babies were all laying down, like on their sides. Isn't this sort of weird? It looked like the mama was laying on them. Is this normal, after they hatch?
Thanks.

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Comments (7)

catherinet
Original Author
10 years ago
Actually, I did an online search and read that they sit on the babies until they get a few feathers. I didn't know that!
Elly_NJ
10 years ago
Good idea to stay away from the nest, not look in. You may scare the mom off the nest for good, or frighten the chicks out of the nest prematurely.
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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.
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carolina wren question
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Comments (1)
You can go ahead and clean out that nest from the birdhouse. It's probably pretty nasty and if they decide to build there again, the nest will be too high as well. Whenever they build in a birdhouse, I clean it out once the young have fledged.
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Questions concering Carolina Wrens
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Comments (1)
I am no expert, but most birds feed nestlings whole bugs and worms. When I have Carolina Wrens nesting in the area, I provide meal worms for them and they shove them in the babies as fast as I put them out. My blue birds also feed them whole to thier babies. The white sacs that you see are fecal sacs. After the babies are well fed, they will "poop", it is contained in a sac, easy for the parents to carry off far from the nest so that no preditors find the nest and the nest stays clean also. Carolina Wrens are so much fun to watch. They usually have two to three broods a season here, maybe you will be lucky to see them nest again!
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carolina wren question about eggs???
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Comments (1)
If the young have already fledged, the eggs left behind are infertile. If she couldn't hatch them, they are not viable eggs. Since you said the young have left the nest, you can throw out the nest and the eggs.
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catherinet
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks elly.
Will do!
tmann05
10 years ago
You can take peeks at them every few days to make sure things are going well. The mom sits on babies to help keep them warm until they are old enough to regulate their own body temperature and grow feathers. You should not peek at them after they are 10 days old so that they are not scared out of the nest early and become a meal for predators. They will leave when they are ready. If you have any interest in putting a bird house up in your yard please read the following website to ensure you do it properly. Happy birding!

http://bluebirdnutcafe.yuku.com/topic/5934/How-I-install-a-nest-box#.UfBlZo3bPSg
donnalovesblue
10 years ago
These little cutie pies are one of my favs! I've had them nesting around my house for several years, and they are well known for nesting in very unusual places! A friend of mine had them nesting in a football helmet on a shelf in her garage! I find it best not to peek at them at all, but you can observe from short distance. As long as the parents are going in and out, everything should be OK. As fledging draws near, don't be alarmed if the parents are not frequenting the nest as often as they did when the babies were young. I was fortunate to see a group fledge last year, but this year, they fledged when I was not at home! They are such fun little birds to watch!
Elly_NJ
10 years ago
Bluebirds are tolerant of well-meaning people poking around their nests.

Carolina wrens and other birds, not so much. Best to leave them alone and enjoy from a distance.
catherinet
Original Author
10 years ago
We have a big covered porch. One year we had our band saw on there over the winter, covered with a tarp. We went to use it in the spring, and there was a Carolina wren nest on it, under the tarp! Needless to say, we couldn't use the saw for awhile!

Then in the barn, I hung a basket over the wall phone so birds wouldn't poop on it, and they build a nest in there.
Lots more stories like that. haha

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