[bcbirdclub] Unusual Carolina Wren nest
- From: "Roger Mayhorn" <rogermayhorn@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bcbirdclub@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2016 00:48:27 -0400
A couple of days ago I took down this acorn shaped decorative bird house for
cleaning. It had hung in our back alcove for a few years, and I knew some
birds had used it but not this year. I knew that House Finches had nested in
it and that Carolina Wrens had roosted in it. I had never attempted to clean
out the house because there was no way of doing that except to pull the
nesting material out through the entrance hole.
While using needle-nosed pliers to clean it out I pulled out lots of moss, a
few leaves and three Carolina Wren eggs. (one was broken so only two in the
photo) I have never known Carolina Wrens to nest in a nest box or bird
house where the entrance was a small round hole. I have seen them nest on
shelves, in buckets, shoes, coat pockets, gourds with openings of 5 or 6
inches, even in the ends of overturned canoes hanging on a wall, but never
where a small entrance hole was involved. They are not cavity nesters. We
have had over 70 Bluebird nest boxes with an entrance opening of 1 ½ inches
erected in different areas of the county since 2002. We started with 20 that
first year then added more in successive years. We have never had a Carolina
Wren attempt to nest in any of them, so I was really surprised to find the
Carolina Wren eggs in this small, completely enclosed nesting place. I was
also surprised to find that three of the wrens clutch did not hatch, which
seemed unusual as well. Did the wrens abandon the nest after only three eggs
were laid, or were more eggs laid that did hatch and these three did not? It
is not unusual for Carolina Wrens to lay six or seven eggs, so the mystery
deepens. We have no documented House Wrens in this immediate area that have
ever nested successfully (three or four attempts over the last forty years)
so I feel sure it wasnt a pair of those. Opinions welcome.
Roger Mayhorn
Compton Mt
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