Garden

[SahmIam]

Yep, a male house wren has made a nest in my storage shed in a nook formed by my 2 garden gloves on a shelf. He finished he nest as he's been warbling and showing females the "house". So far, none of the females have stayed so he keeps "fixing" his house. Keep your fingers crossed he attracts one that DOES like his handiwork, lol.

[carlycat]

That's adorable!

[wildcat fan]

I didn't realize they showed off their nests to attract another.  Fascinating!  

No birds want to nest around here because I have a ferocious beast guarding the place.  😼😼😼 I'd probably scare them away anyhow trying to get picture and videos!  

Keep us posted @SahmIam!  😊

[Julie928]

Aren't they beautiful?  They are really active around here this year.  I hear them all the time while out in the yard, and just yesterday we were at a barbeque at a friend's house and we could hear one the whole time.  A couple of years ago we had one nest in the birdhouse in our shade garden.  I just love them.  I hope they decide to nest at your place ~ please keep us posted!

[Gardengal55]

My son had sent me a picture of a  nest in his camo hunting pouch/bag he hung up in the garage.  He never put it away over the winter so when he decided to take it down and go through it he found straw and other stuff sticking out and  a bird stuck out his /her head and really let him have it.  It didn't fly out but scolded him so he hung it back up.  They were small brown birds in residence but he never saw any babies.  They stayed about 4-6 weeks then left.

[Kachina624]

I had one build a nest in the VPH wreath on my front door a couple years ago.  It wasn't much fazed by the comings and goings at the door.  It would fly off, then immediately return. 

[Foolywooly11]

I think that's the type of little bird that's been building a nest in my mailbox! It doesn't have a door, & my son & I noticed a little bird in the mailbox, collecting sticks & things, making a nest at the back of the box! He flew away, & my son cleaned the sticks & stuff out of the box, so we could get mail, but the next day, he was back, again! It's been a few days since we've seen him, so I guess he found a more suitable place to build! 

[SahmIam]

Thanks everyone for the good wishes; I will keep you posted!

House wrens build "dummy nests"; if there are no eggs after a few weeks/no nesting activity, then you know it was build as a decoy. He's been lining his with soft material so we think this is a real nest. Hope so! : )  I'm looking forward to his "dance:: tail feathers high, chest puffed, wings spread, a special song and tiny little jumps when a female accepts the house, lol.

BTW, there's a law protecting them: if you remove/destroy a nest with eggs, it's a federal offence. Not sure how anyone would know, but.... there ya go!

[Susan Louise]

@SahmIam  Do you remember the day the nest was started/completed? For our mated pair, the male swooned her for 2 days...6/24 and 6/25. On the next day the female started to build the rest of the nest with the male. So I am going to guess 2-3 days til it was completed. That brings it to around the 28th or 29th of June.

Since we don't have a camera inside the birdhouse, we don't know how many eggs...but the female lays one egg a day...so if she started laying eggs the next day or so...for 3-10 eggs, she laid her last egg between July 4th - 14th.

Then 12-14 days of incubation...12-14 days til fledglings...so somewhere around the last week of July to the beginning of August I'm guessing...

Were you able to tell how many eggs Ethel laid...did you peek when she was away?

[shoekitty]

I had a house wren sing for days .  I named him Caruso.  Darn near drove me nuts.  From  before dawn to sunset, he sang.  Finally  a female took him up and the kids were born shortly after.  Under the gutter by the eave over my family room.

yes, they sing and chirp.  I have a nest, come see.  Pick me.  Pick me.  They are persistant little buggers.