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House wren babies abandoned?

10 years ago

Yesterday I was out hanging clothes and other busy work around my porch and I heard a lot of noise coming from the wren birdhouse. We have a hanging birdhouse on our porch which is inhabited by a pair of wrens that I believe to be repeats for several years. They are very used to our comings and goings and my clothesline is within just a few feet of their house; they are not alarmed by my presence whereas the wrens on the other end of the porch seem not as sure of us. They always perch on the end of the clothesline and really give me a talking to though. Yesterday though.....they were not around and the racket was 2 babies in the doorway just really carrying on. I thought them quite cute. That afternoon they were not in the doorway as I was bringing in the clothes but I kept hearing them. Finally I realized that the sound was from the ground and the little guy was looking up at me....almost like he was trying to get my attention. I did pick him up and put him back into the house. I think that the other one must have bumped him out. Today I see nothing and hear nothing. Could the pair have been deserted by their folks and they were hungry and that is why they were carrying on so much yesterday? I hope I didn't do wrong in putting him back into the house but I fear that something is wrong. Any ideas?

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Comment (1)

surya55_gw
10 years ago
I am just guessing here but they may have fledged- a few questions here- how did they look in appearance? Were they all covered in feathers that look like they may be able to climb/hop onto shrubs for cover? Or were they very small and helpless looking? The noise you heard was probably them responding to the parents' calls to leave the nest. (Parents usually do that from a distance to get them to leave the nest.)I'm thinking that they're long gone with the parents. Fledglings usually leave the nest/area as quickly as possible and find cover elsewhere where the parents feed them until they're able to fend for themselves. Hope this helps.

Nerry
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Two years in a row? There aren't any cats in my neighborhood, mostly dogs, including my own. It's far enough from the street that I know a cat couldn't have wandered in the yard but then again, it could have happened somewhere else while she was getting food. I just find it so odd that this happened last year too! Another question, where is the father? I have read that both parents feed the babies, yet there is no sign of him either. Last year, the same thing, no mother, no father. Just this morning, I was out in the front yard watering some of my shrubs/plants and the wrens were squawking at me in their usual loud chastising voice. I too think that mom was killed, but wouldn't the male take over, or would he just leave the area? Yes, it is very sad, it's really breaking my heart to hear them chirping for food and there's nothing I can do about it. I tried saving the babies last year to no avail. Right now they are sleeping, I am not looking forward to tomorrow, if the mother doesn't make a miraculous appearance in the morning. Thanks for your input, I appreciate it. Linda
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