Last spring, while doing my NestWatch, http://nestwatch.org, we had a lot of action with our house wrens that nest under the eave of our roof right over our bedroom window. They had a first brood of six and the young would start their calling at about 6:30 in the morning and squawk all day. The parents were so busy constantly flying back and forth with insects.
A parent feeding the first brood of six
I was lucky enough to be at my “Birding Table-North Yard” the day they fledged. The photo below was taken that day. Over the course of the next few weeks we watched an amazing show of the 6 fledges following mom and dad around the house looking for insects, which the parents dutifully brought them. After awhile the parents back off feeding them and soon the fledges are gone, although one did try to stay a little while longer. The parents quickly started to remodel the old nest and another clutch was laid.
A fledgling from the first brood
The second brood had three young. The male abandoned the female, which they sometimes do, and I felt sorry for the female being all alone. So I started feeding her mealworms. This led to my also feeding the fledgelings. One of the fledgelings had a growth on the tip of its upper beak which kept it from fully closing it’s mouth. I was very concerned about the bird’s ability to forage for the insects it had to catch. Fortunately in a few days the growth broke off. That left it with a bit of an underbite (under beak?) that will grow out again as their beaks are made of keratin just like our fingernails. I was quite relieved.
Fledgeling with the growth on it’s beak
All gone! Notice the underbite?
The wrens had nested in this spot two years in a row. This year they have checked out the nest site but have not seemed to have selected it. Maybe for their second clutch if I’m lucky!
Yours in Nature,
Backwoods Bruce