Bewick's Wrens Build a Nest

The Bewick’s wrens committed to building a nest in the cow skull on the back patio this spring. Both the male and female are in on this venture, but I can’t tell them apart. Listen for their communications as one works and the other makes suggestions or comments.

Once you watch this, you will never question that birds communicate specific things to each other.

The Bewick’s wren (Thryomanes bewickii) is a medium-sized wren found across the southwestern United States. They are believed to be monogamous. Typically their nest is built in a cavity, like a tree hollow, but they will use a nest house or even a ceramic pot. 

The male is the primary nest builder with the female adding the finishing touches after she has approved the venture. She incubates the eggs, but he helps feed the offspring. Typically, it’s just a 14 day incubation and then just 14 days before the chicks leave the nest. The little ones are moderately feathered when their parents urge them out into the world. The little family tends to stay together for several weeks. The parents move the youngsters to various hollows and hidden areas and gradually teach them to hunt for insects.

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A Cow Skull Nest

The Bewick's wren is nest building. Do you see him about 6 inches to the right of the Nature's Nest raw cotton nesting material?

Look for his black eye and the white stripe of an eyebrow. About an inch to the right of his eye, the cotton fuzz in his beak is sticking out from behind a leaf.

The wren has already built a nest in the lariat house. Now he is building a second nest in the brain cavity of the cow skull that hangs on the patio wall.

He has been considering this location for several years. This year he decided to go for it.

The male Bewick's wren builds two nests and then tours his mate through the two sites. He's hoping one will meet with her approval. 

Will we have baby wrens in the cow skull? We'll see.

Allen's hummingbirds have already successfully nested once this Spring 2014.

Mosaic Bird House

Birds live and nest in my yard. Cavity nesting species can have a difficult time finding natural cavities in an increasingly human altered landscape. Dead trees are quickly removed for fire prevention or because people don't like dead plants. Unfortunately most people don't realize the diversity of life that can continue to live in a dead tree.

I've been putting up birdhouses around my yard for several years. The Bewick's wrens have taken advantage of these dwellings on several occasions. The oak titmouse pair inspects the real estate, but have yet to move in. There is the wine cork house, the lariat house, the wooden nestbox and the chicken pot, which wasn't supposed to be a bird house but the wrens thought otherwise.

The inspiration from my recent visit to a local Garden Show, spurred me to finish this mosaic birdhouse. The structure is a wooden birdhouse purchased from a local craft store. I made a point of looking for a shape and entry size that were attractive to my wrens. 

Bits of leftover tile, glass beads and polished stones were glued onto the structure with a tile adhesive. I topped it with a glass bird that had broken off of a swizzle stick provided by my friend Kim. Grout filed the spaces between the tiles and then the whole thing was sprayed with a sealer.

The intent was decoration, but the Bewick's wren pair are inspecting it already. They've just fledged their second clutch of kids this year. Maybe their third will grow-up in the mosaic house.