ANY NEWS ABOUT THE HOUSE WRENS?


Yes, this is a valid question, especially if asked by someone who follows my blog for a long time already. The House Wrens returned during the first week in May this year again and we always wonder if these are the same birds that were born in one of our nest boxes. 

The usual rituals happen as every spring. The males built first loose nests in every hole they can find and try to impress the females. Later, after the females arrive the air is full of love, the male wrens sing like crazy, and finally the female chooses a nest and will finalize its construction.

Photo from May 22, 2015

We have two identical nest boxes, each with two nest chambers. Usually there is one female in one nest box and it is either in the upper hole or in the lower one. This year things are a little different. The box closest to our house has two females and it seems there is only one male present.

Photo from June 4, 2015

A few weeks ago I have heard at least three males singing but since we can’t always follow what’s going on we don’t know the full story at the moment. Yesterday the female on the lower floor started feeding little baby House Wrens and the male brings food as well. The second female carries still twigs and grass to the upper chamber, which means it does not sit on eggs. The other nest box at the edge of our woods seems to be empty (we are not sure yet) and maybe the second female has lost its brood. There is a raccoon roaming around every night here and other predators are a possibility as well. Well, to answer the question above, yes, there are a lot of news about the wrens but it is fun to watch them as every year…