A lovely little brown bird has built a nest and laid 4 small light blue eggs in our door wreath. I know… awww. It is cute, however, I think we will have a problem soon.
The wreath is on the door that we use all the time. After I was almost scared to death after Mama Bird flew out of the nest when I was entering the house the other night, I was thinking about when the eggs hatch and Mama Bird gets very possessive of her nest. We’re going to have to deal with being chased and pecked everytime someone leaves or enters the house.
One solution would be to move the nest somewhere else on our property. I’m afraid that Mama Bird would abandon the nest. I wouldn’t want that to happen. Another option is to enter/exit the house through the garage. My husband and I can lift the garage door, but my 69 year old Mother cannot.
Awwwww! I’m such a softie, I’d install a garage door opener for my mother. (Or a really big doggie door, maybe? ) I might even rationalize it as a homeschool project so we could watch the incubation, hatching and development of the baby birds.
But if someone else came to me and asked what to do, I’d tell her to pitch the nest NOW before the birds get too protective and before the babies hatch and start shitting all over your stoop. The parents will find another, more appropriate place to build their nest.
Move it a few feet each day until you end up where you want it. You could use a coat rack or some similar mobile item to suspend the wreath temporarily.
Thanks for your recommendations. On my way to the grocery store today, Mom and I noticed another bird hanging around the nest. We assumed it had to be the Daddy. We talked about it, and remembered that the Daddys come around to help feed the babies. I looked and sure enough, we have 2 baby birds and 2 unhatched eggs. We’ll see if the others hatch.
Of course, it’s supposed to get really cold over here (Central FL) the next few nights. I hope they’ll be OK.
Squeee!
(Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way… :D)
I like to think that the nest builders kind of knew what they were getting into when they built it there. If you use that door all the time, the birds are somewhat accustomed to the movement. I say let 'em be. You have some nice wildlife happening in your space now! Soon the babies will all grow up and you’ll be all sad when they fly the nest. Little birds can’t do that much damage even if they do get aggressive, so unless they bring an army, I think you’ll be ok.
This, of course, is my uneducated opinion, and hopefully, a bird expert will be along shortly to either confirm or debunk my position on this.
And now an anecdote from my past…
I once managed a small outdoor stage at the renaissance faire. (Mountebank for those locals who remember when we were still on the other side of Glen Helen Regional.) Anyway, we had lots of decoration on the top of that stage, and some sparrows built their nest right on the center wreath. They did this in spite of the hustle and bustle going on all the time. We had Morris Dancers at the time for chrissakes! Anyhow, they didn’t seem to mind us at all, and when the little birdies grew up, I was very sad. I had watched them grow from eggs, and was there when they had their first flights. Gosh, that happens so quickly. I was chided for being protective of the little guys whom I considered my charges at the time, but it was satisfying to watch that bit of the circle of life.
They look like little wrenlets. Do the parents look like this? Wrens are really adept at cohabitating with people, and will nest in wreaths and potted hanging baskets. They’re very bold, fast moving, and vocal, so can nest in situations where other birds don’t. Here’s some more info, on house wrens, from the Cornell Ornithology Lab, a great source for bird info.
The good news is, baby birds mature Fast, and they will be out and on their way in a scant couple of weeks. If you can live with them for a bit, let them be, then get rid of that attractive wreath. again, wrens are amenable to being around people, so won’t be freaked out by you too much. When the babies leave the nest, do expect them to be on alert and vocal.
I’ve had wrens in less than hospitable places, with an active cat. It was amazing to watch the Mama wren, early in the morning, lead her babies out of the “bad” nesting site, and off into a better spot to grow up. Took about 2 hours, but, then they were gone into the woods. Wrens are speedy in all respects. If you do have cats, try to keep them indoors during the fledgling time.
I hope you can coexist with em for a short while, great little bold birds.
Now that you waited too long, enjoy being attacked all the time. After that experience for over two months, I had no problem riping the nest out 5 times as it was being built and still wet last spring.
In my above post, I mean “them” as the parent birds, being very vocal and , as Harmonius Discord says, protecting their babies during the vulnerable fledgeling phase. Get on rid of the wreath site for future nest building. If you develop a love for the wrens, seeing them grow up, you can put up more hospitable nest sites further away from the house to watch them.
The other 2 eggs have hatched, but it’s been cold and I haven’t been able to get a decent picture. I’ll try to get some pics this afternoon when I come home from work.
Birds Britannica informs that the male (European) wren troglodytes troglodytes tends to build half a dozen nests within its territory, from which the female selects the one with the best construction and situation.
Among recorded locations are the the floral cross of a church pulpit (which the bird lined with moss taken from the lectern) and inside the mouth of a prize pike hanging on a garage wall. Yet more unlikely recorded sites comprise a nest built a foot away from a circular saw in use for 8 hours a day, and the running board of a lorry that made a twice weekly journey from Kent to Covent Garden complete with eggs and nestlings.
Of the several wren broods I found at my old house (15 years ago), all but one eventually got eaten by predators (snakes and blue jays mainly). The only brood which survived was one which nested in the collection bin of an old lawnmower in my garage, where the predators couldn’t get to them.
) I might even rationalize it as a homeschool project so we could watch the incubation, hatching and development of the baby birds.
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