# Nest in Door Wreath
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nest-in-door-wreath/444591
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [April 9, 2008, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nest-in-door-wreath/444591 "2008-04-09T12:33:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Carm6773](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carm6773)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2008, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nest-in-door-wreath/444591/1 "2008-04-09T12:33:56Z")
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.
What should I do?
---
### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2008, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nest-in-door-wreath/444591/2 "2008-04-09T13:09:05Z")
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.
---
### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2008, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nest-in-door-wreath/444591/3 "2008-04-09T13:58:04Z")
[QUOTE=Carm6773]
One solution would be to move the nest somewhere else on our property. I’m afraid that Mama Bird would abandon the nest.
[/QUOTE]
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.
---
### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2008, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nest-in-door-wreath/444591/4 "2008-04-09T14:11:42Z")
I agree with Whynot; move it before the eggs hatch. The sin is less if they leave the eggs rather than leave baby birds. 🙂
---
### Author:  [@Carm6773](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carm6773)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nest-in-door-wreath/444591/5 "2008-04-13T21:41:32Z")
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.
---
### Author:  [@Carm6773](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carm6773)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nest-in-door-wreath/444591/6 "2008-04-13T22:27:00Z")
[Pics](http://s148.photobucket.com/albums/s16/Carm6773/)
---
### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nest-in-door-wreath/444591/7 "2008-04-13T22:37:34Z")
Oh! They’re so adorable!
(I don’t think I’ve ever been so glad someone didn’t take my advice. 😉 )
---
### Author:  [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2008, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nest-in-door-wreath/444591/8 "2008-04-13T22:43:53Z")
Aww, that’s so cool! I really don’t have any suggestions though. Have you tried calling animal control and asking for their advice?
---
### Author:  [@Faruiza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faruiza)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2008, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nest-in-door-wreath/444591/9 "2008-04-13T23:36:14Z")
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.
Enjoy your live National Geographic special!
---
### Author:  [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2008, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nest-in-door-wreath/444591/10 "2008-04-14T03:03:16Z")
They look like little wrenlets. Do the parents look like [this](http://www.suttoncenter.org/images/House-Wren-Carroll.jpg)? 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](http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/House_Wren.html) 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.
---
### Author:  [@Carm6773](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carm6773)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2008, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nest-in-door-wreath/444591/11 "2008-04-14T10:38:34Z")
Thanks **elelle**! I was wondering what type of birds we had, thanks for clearing that up! I’ll keep y’all posted.
---
### Author:  [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2008, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nest-in-door-wreath/444591/12 "2008-04-14T12:38:49Z")
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.
---
### Author:  [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2008, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nest-in-door-wreath/444591/13 "2008-04-17T01:09:38Z")
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.
---
### Author:  [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2008, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nest-in-door-wreath/444591/14 "2008-04-17T10:10:18Z")
I have no advise, sorry.
I had a nest like that the first year I moved in. I used the back door until they little buggers were old enough to fly.
Last year a bird built such a nest and I took the wreath down before she could lay eggs.
---
### Author:  [@Carm6773](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carm6773)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2008, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nest-in-door-wreath/444591/15 "2008-04-17T10:16:09Z")
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.
---
### Author:  [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2008, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nest-in-door-wreath/444591/16 "2008-04-17T12:13:41Z")
[QUOTE=elelle]
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.
[/QUOTE]
_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.
---
### Author:  [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2008, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nest-in-door-wreath/444591/17 "2008-04-17T13:58:56Z")
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.