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Submitted By
Paula
Burlington, VT, USA
Description
This bird which I believe is a House Wren is moving into the Bluebird nest box..with a chickadee nest in it with no eggs. This bird took out alot of nesting material and appears to be adding her own..5-15-23
Category
Winner
I believe that’s a House Wren. Try putting up more nest boxes.
I have another one up…no takers so far.
How far away is the other box from the one with the wren?
House wrens build “dummy nests” on top of other nests. They also steal birds’ eggs and also young. Pretty mean.
They also destroy any nest within their territory. Male wrens often have many females and each female uses a nestbox.
Yes, I read about the dummy nests. It seems the Wren is just removing nesting material. The other box was put up more than the suggested minimum distance. I don’t recall ever seeing House Wrens or Cow birds in previous years. Maybe I’ll just take the boxes down…never tried them before. Thought the black-capped Chickadees would be in there as they built the nest.
I wouldn’t take down your boxes. The birds fighting means that they need more nesting sites. Also, nests are protected so you can’t take down the one with the wren nest. Nests are protected for 2 weeks after the young fledge as well.
One box is empty and one has the Black-Capped Chickadee nest which the Wren seems to be refurbishing. I’ll keep an eye on both. House Finch babies in Christmas wreath should hatch this week.