The mealworms definitely help year round, particularly with hatchlings. Last summer I had a kayak hanging in straps in my carport. Lo and behold a pair of Carolina Wrens were seen building a nest at the far end of the inside of the kayak. They raised a nest of babies and next thing ya know, another nest! I SO enjoyed watching them from my window flying in and out with mouthfuls of food and then the babies coming out and sitting on the grill, lawnmower handle, etc for me to see.
They and the cardinals are my favorite backyard birds. I feed them year round. We are enjoying the fledgling progeny of a pair of Carolina Wrens, 4 little ones, in their first flights today, just West of Houston Texas.
We were gardening a couple of weeks ago when we discovered a nesting pair in a tall, narrow plant pot full of dead Texas Woodfern leaves. We replaced the safflower seed feeder with a nut-and-sunflower seed ock in a metal wire feeder. The Wrens, cardinals and sparrows have all decided they own that seed block feeder. The fledgling flights brought a complete quiet zone while they visit our native Texas garden around the patio.
What a thrill to see the young ones doing well in their first flights! A Carolina Wrenn just built her nest in a Chenille plant right next to my front door. We have an open, but covered porch, so that was probably part of the attraction.
I can touch the nest with no effort. She laid four eggs and they all hatched. The babies are going on two weeks and I can hear them chirping now very high pitched , when they are not sleeping. I can also hear the mother in the tree near the porch along with another Wrenn.
However, she has never at least not yet , come at anyone entering or leaving the house. She flew out of the nest once when I attempted to take a picture…but never at me. I am enjoying this so much. Love all my birds!!! I can watch all if them from my kitchen window. I have a hummer feeder within a foot from the glass. I love the sounds of any bird. Gods gift to all who will take time to see. We have a pair of Carolina Wrens nesting behind a deck chair that hangs on our porch. How can I best feed the wrens without attracting predator birds?
You can also try providing food in multiple areas so that the grackles may be concentrated elsewhere from where the wrens are feeding. The woods around my house are full of Carolina wrens, and they often build nests around the edge of the house, sometimes in unwise locations like buckets that fill up with rain water.
My wife and I really enjoy their songs and their antics. Right now a couple is raising babies on a ledge above the front door. It mentions that the males and females sometimes perform duets. The male sings one of his many colorful tunes and the female responds with a simple chattering song, going back and forth many times. I decided to try an experiment. Almost immediately, a male flew onto a nearby tree and sang the other part of the duet!
I kept repeating this: I would play the female song, and the male would reply with one of his songs. He got very confused, though. With each iteration of the song, he flew to another tree around the edge of the deck, looking in the direction of my phone, and eventually he ended up sitting on the deck rail behind me, at which point I stopped teasing him. I tried the same thing again the next day, with the same result.
As we took turns, he hopped up and down the tree and across to some nearby ones, and finally he swooped down and fluttered right behind my head.
He might even have landed on the back of the chair. Alas, the tale of my Carolina wren family has come to an unhappy end or at least a mysterious one. Yesterday the little ones left the nest for the first time, which was on top of a foot-high brick pillar above our front steps, and they successfully flew around for a few hours on the hillside below the house. Somehow they got from the nest down to the ground, and then they took off again from there.
I saw one take what seemed to be his very first powered flight, with his wings beating very rapidly like a hummingbird as he lifted off. Later I saw at least 3 different ones flying more confidently among some small trees on the hillside below. They were clearly smaller than the adults. Oddly I did not see the parents while this was going on, although I could hear the male sing his song occasionally from some place in the woods. At other times I heard a long sequence of repeated notes which I thought might have been some sort of homing signal for the little ones.
At the end of the day no one returned to the nest, and it is still empty today. Is it possible that they made a move to another nest that the parents had prepared? Or were the young ones unable to get back up to the nest, and the parents just moved on? Or did something else happen to the parents? The male made a lot of noise just outside our windows for the last few weeks, and my wife and I will miss it! Or mommy.
They share equal responsibility feeding the babies. The males are the ones with longer bills. Not sure if nesting material should or would be reused. Jenn — My wren nest is on top of a tall pillar, so I think I may just scrape it off with a pole and see if anyone will want to start from scratch in the same place even if it is a bit dirty.
It was still unfortunate that they chose a day that was followed by a very cold night. The nest would have been a lot cozier! One other odd note: a few days earlier, I was watching the parents coming and going from the nest, feeding the babies, while I was standing inside and looking out through a large window that is above the front door.
It seemed as though they knew I was there, and all of a sudden one of them flew straight at me and banged off the window very loudly although not appearing to get hurt by it. I read later somewhere online that they will sometimes deliberately fly into things to make a noise to frighten predators.
Now a year later I am glad to say I have two carolina wrens that visit me on my porch at my new house. They probably found me because I put out peanuts all throughout the day for the squirrels. I stopped buying peanuts in the shell years ago because the squirrels seemed to just want to run away and bury them.
Instead I buy bottles of dry roasted unsalted peanuts, usually from walmart. They are priced better there than the regular grocery stores. Easy to grab a bottle to take out on the porch with me also.
I swear these birds and critters must watch for me to come out because no sooner do I sit down that they show up for food. Just a few minutes ago one of the wrens landed on a chair beside me and just sat for a bit which is what prompted me to do a search on their behavior. I like to mix a handful of these with my black oil sunflower seeds for my backyard feeders.
Yes, they are spoiled but I do appreciate them a lot. They bring me much joy. Sorry for rambling.. We have some house wrens nesting in a hanging flower basket under an overhang over our back porch here in SE Michigan.
Needless to say the flowers have died as we stopped watering them. The eggs have hatched and mom and dad are busy feeding the babies, mostly insects. Mom will stay in the nest longer than dad when feeding. Sometimes dad will bring a bug and leave for mom to come up and get, several times he gave to her directly. Did the same when carrying materials for the nest. Truly talented songbirds! Hi Rob, You might have Carolina Wrens — House Wrens build nests in tree cavities or nest boxes, but Carolina Wrens are much more versatile — building nests in flower pots, in the nooks and crannies around your yard, and have even been known to nest in boots and coat pockets left outside!
Enjoy watching this nest, and feel free to report it to NestWatch. Learn more about our sister project, NestWatch, here. I had heard Carolina Wrens for several years before I knew what they were. One day in early spring I saw one at my feeder, identified it as a C. Then yesterday I was sitting on the back porch when a C. House wrens have made a nest in our garage next to our golf shoes. We see the adults fly occasionally in and out of the garage, but worry that these little naked birds will die, as the garage is very warm.
We leave the garage doors open during the day, but at night, for safety purposes, we close the garage door and leave it open only about a foot, in case the adult birds want to feed their young. Hopefully that helps, good thinking leaving the garage cracked! We have a Carolina Wren that arrives every year! It is so exciting to see her? We have six nesting baskets on our front landing in the corner where she sleeps. We stuff them with dog hair so she is warm. We provide meal worms for all of our birds and peanuts, etc..
She has her own feed bowl that she shares with chickades and titmice. What a great gift from nature. Lynn Millen, Bainbridge, Ohio. Here we are in Lake Bomoseen area, Vermont. Been feeding and enjoying the birds for many years! First year we have had a Carolina wren. That little critter is quite amazing.
It seems to love our feeding station which includes sunflower seeds, 2 or three types of suet, and dried meal worms. Always looking for new birds to join our menagerie. Two years ago we had a single red-bellied woodpecker a rarity in our area. Now we have a family regularly visiting our feeder. Being an elderly couple and quite cautious about social distancing in this time of covid, we love being entertained by our feathered friends!!
A recommendation to anyone interested: add the Merlin app to your cell phone, get a small bluetooth speaker to install outside a window and ENJOY!! I absolutely adore my new pair of Carolina Wrens!! They have became quite used to me in just a couple of months. I so hope they have babies this Spring. They are some of the cutest little birds!! I have wrens nest every year on my porch, usually in the Christmas Wreath.
Last year in an empty flower basket I deliberately left hanging. They also sleep in a teeny woven basket during the winter. It was a tough February so I put crushed nuts out on the window ledges. This year they nested in the wreath again. I only saw one bird, who never left the nest. I never heard the male. When we had an unexpected very cold day in April the female left the nest and seemed to be frantically searching for food at the bird feeder.
A first. I bought meal worms for her and she would take them from the tweezers if I kept to the side. The male finally showed up when the babies hatched. I also bought a bag of dried worms and was feeding the female that with the tweezer.
My question is should I get more fresh worms for the female to feed the babies? Do wrens feed the babies the meal worms? The worms seem pretty big. Do they feed the babies dried worms?
Hi Marion, Most songbirds tend to feed their young insects exclusively. You can provide mealworms if you like, but note that feeders are a supplemental source of food for birds, not a main source. These birds will be OK if you do not provide mealworms for them, or if you provide only a little. Their main sources of food will be butterfly and moth larvae, crickets and grasshoppers, spiders, beetles both larvae and adults.
I have a pair of Carolina Wrens in my backyard. They love cashews more than anything else. At least three times a day I have to fill the feeder back up with cashews they are organic, raw, and unsalted, of course because my cardinals, Blue Jays, and carolina wrens go crazy for them. Are cashews as good for birds as peanuts are? I am asking because that is literally all my cardinals and carolina wrens take every day, and I even saw my cardinal feeding cashews to its fledgling.
Hi Susan, Yes other raw or roasted nuts are usually OK to feed birds. Some birds even like pistachios! Thanks, Holly! Now, it appears that the gray catbirds in my area are also crazy for cashews! Today there was a fight between 2 male blue jays, a pair of cardinals, and a gray catbird. They were all screaming and chasing each other around the bird feeder. Birds are so special and entertaining! Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
One peanut can go a long way for a Carolina Wren April 27, Thanks to Facundo Fernandez-Duque for this excellent student blog post about Carolina Wrens and their love of feeders in winter. A Carolina Wren bursts into song. Peanuts are a good choice if you want to attract Carolina Wrens. What type of suet should he choose? This Carolina wren is choosing a peanut based suet. Laurie says:. May 8, at pm. Melissa says:. May 31, at pm. Pat Moore says:.
December 21, at pm. Reelthing says:. December 28, at pm. Don says:. December 31, at am. Nina Lake says:. February 1, at am. Holly Faulkner, Project Assistant says:. February 1, at pm. Donna Baldwin says:.
May 21, at am. May 24, at am. Linda Dokman says:. April 1, at am. June 9, at pm. Geoff Lambert says:. March 14, at pm. Gail says:. June 8, at am. Edith Taylor says:. December 4, at pm. Sumi says:.
April 2, at pm. Christine says:. September 17, at pm. Donna Field says:. March 5, at pm. Peter Connell says:. April 7, at pm. Pat says:. July 28, at pm. Barbara Rock says:. July 29, at am. Stephanie says:. July 29, at pm. September 9, at pm. Wrens will eat nuts, seeds and berries when insects are unavailable.
These birds are rare visitors to feeders, and are most likely to consume seed in the winter, when other food supplies are scarce. Black oil sunflower seed, peanut hearts and nutmeats are the best seed to attract winter wrens. Wrens also may consume suet cakes, with or without seed, in the colder months. Place the cake in a suet feeder to prevent squirrels and larger birds from stealing it. In the nesting season, it is best to soak the mealworms in warm water as they may dehydrate young chicks who rely on the moisture found in insects for their supply.
Here is one method of rearing your own mealworms. In my wildlife garden, underneath the sunflower feeder are several dense lavender bushes. The wrens over the years in the winter months feed upon bits of sunflower hearts that have dropped from the feeder, scattering all over and under them. This has provided a rich picking area for wrens. Several bird food suppliers formulate various food which they say are attractive to wrens. Wrens will look for food inside large plant pots, especially if they are already near cover from which they can easily fly.
Finely grated mild cheese, smaller pieces of crushed peanuts, oatmeal, dried mealworms would be well appreciated. For such a small bird it has a long history in European folklore , it has a Wren Day December 26th and groups of men in the past were even known as Wrenboys , who went out to kill wrens and a poem written about it. It is our 3rd smallest bird, the smallest being the Firecrest and Goldcrest. It could easily be mistaken for a mouse as I often see it scurrying around the undergrowth in my garden.
Now is that because it is looking for food or ashamed to show itself as it was caught cheating to see which bird could fly the highest? Interested in observing garden birds? Please help by spreading the word and forwarding this link to your friends and colleagues. Many thanks for your wonderful article! Happy birding! Lovely little things, although their Anglo Saxon name of translates as lascivious. He has a harem of females! Thank you for such an informative article.
I am a long time bird watcher and bird feeder but just recently I added a small bird house to my backyard sanctuary and I noticed a wren flitting about for the first time. I think she is taking up residence. So I wanted to know how to make my new visitor more at home.
Males pick the best-camouflaged area in which to make their numerous nest to tempt the females Cathy, so dense vegetation is a good idea. Cheers George. We have two wrens who eat suet and other seed with all the others. Are they eating seed? I have always love them and we have several houses in summer. We did leave two wooden ones out this winter.
Our wren population really grew last year. They are so fun to watch. A quick search re wren eating seeds. I could not find any decent Science paper to state they do, only a reference to them eating peanut pieces from the RSPB.
Whatever you are doing, sound like you have craked it with your wrens Sandra, cheers George. I need help!
We rescued 2 very young wrens.
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