Carolina Wren Nest Re-use? (1 Viewer)

[Allimar]

Hi folks:

Had a pair of Carolina wrens successfully raise 5 chicks in my hanging begonia pot on my porch. They fledged a couple of weeks ago and all has been quiet. I went onto the porch early this evening and was roundly chided for walking out my door! I first heard fluttering, looked over and saw the flowerpot was swinging. And a very angry Carolina Wren then flew into the bush next to the porch and scolded me back into the house.

I know they will brood more than once per season, but I didn't think they re-used the same nest; do they? And so soon? I was going to take it down so I could properly tend my begonia, but if they are working on it again I'll let it be.

Alli

 

[KC Foggin]

Hello there and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum :t:

Yes, they will reuse a nest. If this picture is the current hatchlings, then it will only be a few more weeks til they fledge. I've never seen mine do a third round though so I would think this will be the last.

 

[Allimar]

Thanks for the welcome KC!

Whew; glad I didn't take the nest down the other day. Let's hear it for being lazy! Although I'm surprised Mr & Mrs are back to business so quickly. The photo I attached is the first brood, which fledged less than 2 weeks ago (it will be 2 weeks this coming Friday). They don't waste any time do they?

They weren't the only Carolina Wrens which nested in strange places here. The other pair nested in our shed, in one of the old computers. I have a photo of that as well; I'll have to dig it up. Unfortunately, either the mice or the snake that lives in the shed got a hold of the eggs (I'm guessing snake as there were no shell fragments to be found) and the parents abandoned the nest. Not surprising as that nest was totally accessible; my 5 yr old could peer into it without standing on his toes.

 

[Bob.M]

Our wren started his melodious trill, looking for a mate the day after the little ones left the nest. All the while the young ones were in the nest, all we would hear is his scolding voice whenever we went near. No time wasted.
I am wondering if we should "help" by cleaning out the old nest. It is in a ceramic cylinder which was made to be a nest box for such small birds, and is easily cleaned. These pictures were taken the day before they left.

 

[Bob.M]

This is an old topic, but still relevant. This year's family just left. One day there were 3 mouths peeping out the nesthole to be fed. The next morning they were out, in the bushes near the tree. One was on a branch. A few minutes later they were in our pool area. I was worried they may fall in. Seems they must be able to fly the day they leave the nestbox. By afternoon, they had completely left our acre.

My question is: Should I clean out the old nest, or just leave it alone? Surely it will be reused this season.

 

[Bird_Bill]

This is an old topic, but still relevant. This year's family just left. One day there were 3 mouths peeping out the nesthole to be fed. The next morning they were out, in the bushes near the tree. One was on a branch. A few minutes later they were in our pool area. I was worried they may fall in. Seems they must be able to fly the day they leave the nestbox. By afternoon, they had completely left our acre.

My question is: Should I clean out the old nest, or just leave it alone? Surely it will be reused this season.

Hi Bob, In my opinion it's safe to clean out.
Might want to wait a few days, as you say, the fledges are in the area. The adults will stay in vicinity for about a week. One paper on Carolina's...Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 1999; Haggerty and Morton...states nest are not reused. Much other info says same. Few years ago some nested in my stored canoe. Not having the heart to disrupt the nest, I borrowed a friends canoe for a float-camp. They were gone when I returned. Despite seeing wrens afterwards, none reused the canoe for another brood.

 

[KC Foggin]

I've had Carolina Wrens reuse a nest already used so I wouldn't be too quick to remove it.

 

[Bird_Bill]

I've had Carolina Wrens reuse a nest already used so I wouldn't be too quick to remove it.

Were the birds tagged or identified in some manner,
that verifies it was the very same birds?

 

[Bob.M]

...
Might want to wait a few days,...

That will be my current plan. I have seen only 1 adult chirping away since the kids left. I will see what develops. Reading Sibley's book on bird behavior was no help. They don't make clear which type of wrens they are talking about. I think these were house wrens. We also get Carolina Wrens during the winter, but they don't use the ceramic house pictured above 4 years ago.

 

[Bob.M]

Just an update: No bird has been back to the nest in almost 2 weeks.
So we cleaned it out. It may be getting too late in the season to
start another brood.

 

[Cgconn]

Just had 3 fledge. Wondering if the parents are returning each year to the same spot on our porch or are they the next generation returning to the place of their birth? This will be the third year we’ve hosted them in the eaves of our porch.

 

[Joey Coma]

Hi folks:

Had a pair of Carolina wrens successfully raise 5 chicks in my hanging begonia pot on my porch. They fledged a couple of weeks ago and all has been quiet. I went onto the porch early this evening and was roundly chided for walking out my door! I first heard fluttering, looked over and saw the flowerpot was swinging. And a very angry Carolina Wren then flew into the bush next to the porch and scolded me back into the house.

I know they will brood more than once per season, but I didn't think they re-used the same nest; do they? And so soon? I was going to take it down so I could properly tend my begonia, but if they are working on it again I'll let it be.

Alli

My Carolina Wrens fledged 3 broods by Mother’s Day last year all out of the same nest. This year they haven’t done it so I was going to tear it down. Well, they just started sprucing it up, so it’ll stay. Also, beware, because sometimes when they’re raising hell there might be a cat or a snake nearby. So, if you hear them squawking, go investigate. They will appreciate it. And if they didn’t already trust you, they wouldn’t be there. Mine are like pets.

 

[Susan Plant]

Just had my first set (5) of Carolina wrens fledge this weekend. They built their nest in a spider plant on a table right outside my backdoor on the upper deck. The day before they left I found 4 of the 5 outside the nest in the dirt of the plant. Guess it had gotten crowded and hot for them. The next day I happened to see 3 on the deck floor. The mom arrived with her mouth full of food to entice them to follow her as she flew away. One immediately followed and the other two hesitated for a bit before taking the jump. Never saw the other two. I decided to go to my backyard and found the 3 hanging out under my False Cypress in a corner of my house where it meets a cement wall. Checked on them several times all that day. they were gone the next am.

 

[KC Foggin]

Just had my first set (5) of Carolina wrens fledge this weekend. They built their nest in a spider plant on a table right outside my backdoor on the upper deck. The day before they left I found 4 of the 5 outside the nest in the dirt of the plant. Guess it had gotten crowded and hot for them. The next day I happened to see 3 on the deck floor. The mom arrived with her mouth full of food to entice them to follow her as she flew away. One immediately followed and the other two hesitated for a bit before taking the jump. Never saw the other two. I decided to go to my backyard and found the 3 hanging out under my False Cypress in a corner of my house where it meets a cement wall. Checked on them several times all that day. they were gone the next am.

Hi there Susan and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum
We're glad you found us and please join in wherever you like.
I'm surrounded by Carolina Wrens and they give me lots of laughs with their actions. The other day I watched a parent wren actually yelling at the fledgling and then took off. Within seconds the fledgling took off after her/him.

 

[Taximom]

This is an old thread but I had 4 Carolina Wrens fledge on Saturday and then today, Monday, I saw at least 3 come back to the nest. Is that strange for the chicks to return the first few days?

 

[SW Arkansas birdwatcher]

The past several summers, a pair of wrens have been nesting in a basket on a shelf in our carport, right next to the door into our house. This is the 3rd year wrens have occupied this basket. I don't know if it's been the same pair every year. This past winter, a pair of wrens have been using that same nest at night to sleep. I set up a game camera to confirm they were using the nest since I had never known wrens to use an old nest to sleep in cold weather. Has anyone else ever seen this behavior?

 

[nwarkansasbirds]

The past several summers, a pair of wrens have been nesting in a basket on a shelf in our carport, right next to the door into our house. This is the 3rd year wrens have occupied this basket. I don't know if it's been the same pair every year. This past winter, a pair of wrens have been using that same nest at night to sleep. I set up a game camera to confirm they were using the nest since I had never known wrens to use an old nest to sleep in cold weather. Has anyone else ever seen this behavior?

I’ve seen similar behavior in my experience.

We have a nest box and camera under the eaves of our back porch that a pair of carolina wrens used for nesting last spring. Interestingly, they completed the nest but didn’t actually use it to raise a brood. However, a few weeks later, the camera caught a carolina wren adult and fledgling fly into the nest box and leave shortly after. My guess is the original pair used a different nesting site nearby and one of them stopped by to check on their other site.

Throughout the summer, about once or twice a week, a single carolina wren would fly into the nest box, look inside the old nest for a few seconds, and then leave. I presume they were just scouting out their territory.

In fall, I noticed that a lone carolina wren would roost in the nest on the cooler nights, below 50 degrees or so. Since November, a single wren has slept in the nest every single night without fail. At first, I wasn’t sure why there was only one bird. Did one of the pair perish? Was this bird just a random passerby, or perhaps one of last year’s fledglings? Fascinatingly, on the coldest night of the year, I saw two carolina wrens roost in the nest for the first time. It got down to -5 degrees that night, but they got through it just fine with their combined body heat.

It seems as if they roost in separate locations normally, but unite on the harshest of nights—at least that’s what this pair does.

They’ve started to add to the nest again, ahead of the coming spring. Hopefully I get to watch them raise a brood this year!

 

[G'villeDouglas]

Just had 3 fledge. Wondering if the parents are returning each year to the same spot on our porch or are they the next generation returning to the place of their birth? This will be the third year we’ve hosted them in the eaves of our porch.

This is my question as well. Anyone know?

 

[Chickie95]

We have some Carolina Wrens that were nesting in our breezeway. Every year they try to build a nest up there and every year, my husband takes it down before it can be used. This year, he never got around to it, so the nest stayed up. I’m not sure what he was expecting, but he assumed it was vacant because he hadn’t heard a peep. I got up on a ladder on Saturday and found five baby birds in the nest. I put an old security camera up there to keep an eye on things.

This morning, I watched the nest clear out. That last segment in full daylight is the last time a bird set off the camera.

My husband would like to take the nest down, but I’m wondering how long it should stay up for the young birds. Considering the annual attempts to nest in this spot and our warm climate, I wouldn’t be shocked if the adults went for round 2 in the near future.