Julie Zickefoose Was Absolutely Correct

Just like Julie Zickfoose had told me, my house wrens are behaving themselves because I’ve allowed them to have one of my bluebird houses. From early in the morning until late at night, I hear both of them singing and calling to each other. It’s actually quite sweet.

House Wrens Feeding Frenzy

Because of how the nests are built with interlocking twigs, I haven’t opened the box for fear of the nest collapsing or falling out the side. However, judging by the calendar and their present behavior, they now have babies.

Every time I take my dog out or go out to fill up the feeders and water I see one house wren or the other flitting from one side of the yard to the other. They’re popping in and out of the nestbox, climbing all over the privacy fence and hopping for miles in the bare spots in the corners of my yard looking for food. I’ve even seen them take a look at the upside down suet feeder but I don’t think they’ve taken any which surprises me. All the rest of the birds in my backyard with babies including chickadees, titmice, cardinals, carolina wrens, woodpeckers and blue jays are cleaning out my suet on the order of one cake per 5 days or less. Keep in mind, I don’t have any nuisance birds out there and I watch my feeders closely.

House Wrens Mark Their Territory

Just like Julie said, the male continues to put nesting material in my other bluebird box. I do like she says and just remove it. It seems like this is working without having an adverse effect on the house wrens’ temper. In fact, it seems like his attempts at this have all but subsided.

I figure in about 3-5 days I should be seeing the nestlings becoming fledglings. I’m looking forward to seeing mom and dad line them up and show them the ropes. Watching parents teaching and feeding has always been one of the highlights of my backyard birding.

My Biggest Surprise

The one thing that has really taken me by surprise is how well they seem to tolerate my presence. When I’m at the feeding station near them, they just sit on the fence and sing. They don’t look particularly threatened or agitated. And they just hide in the near tree when I’m mowing.

Oh, and for some reason, both of them go in the side of the box at the top instead of the hole in it. Just being contrary I guess-LOL!

All in all, I have really enjoyed having my first house wren family this nesting season. Please share any backyard birding stories you have by leaving me a comment.