LadyMin's Garden

Success! Three baby house wrens fledged the nestbox this morning. They were soooo cute. They came flying out of the box within about 10 minutes of each other. When I say “flying” I mean that loosely. With their stubby little tail feathers and short wings they are quite awkward and can only fly a short distance without crashing into something… like a wall, a fence or a tree! The watchful parents were nearby chirping and making a lot of noise.

After about a half hour they had hopped and chirped their way down a few houses and I could no longer hear them. One of the adults came back twice and checked the nestbox… and then they were gone. I miss them already.

I took some pictures of them as they left… not high quality because they would not stay still for me.

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Male Wren. I named him Chirpy because he sings and chirps constantly.

About two months ago a male house wren claimed a birdhouse I have on my garage. It’s been there for years but no birds have ever nested in it. I was beginning to think there was something wrong with it! This little bird filled the box with sticks and then sat on the fence and sang until a female showed up, finished building the nest and laid eggs.

Here's Mom with a yummy insect.

Now there are baby wrens. For the past two weeks the parents have been very busy bring insects to the babies. I could hear them peeping this past week and today I could see their little heads in the doorway. I see at least three, but it sounds like a dozen when mom or dad shows up at the door. The parents have started feeding them from the perch now instead of going into the house so they must be pretty big.

Mom is feeding the 2 week old babies from the perch now.

Today the parents have been sitting outside the nest “calling” to the chicks, who are putting their heads out but are still not too sure about leaving. I expect to see them go any day now as wren nestlings generally fledge in about 15 or 16 days.

Some interesting facts about wrens from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:

• The House Wren has one of the largest ranges of any songbird in the New World
• A House Wren weighs about .4 oz, or 12 grams
• Despite their small size, they can be fierce competitors for nest sites
• They eat a wide variety of insects and spiders, including beetles, caterpillars, earwigs, and daddy longlegs
• Pairs typically break up by the end of each nesting season and choose new partners the next year
• The male House Wren starts building nest even before he has a mate.
• Incubation period is 9-16 days
• Nesting period is 15-17 days
• Clutch size can be 3-10 eggs.

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