San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
Grand Wrenparents are keeping watchful eye on little nestbox
He’s like the little engine that could, and for eons the forces of nature have ensured that he can.
The courtship and mating of house wrens are another one of those rituals that brightens life and it begins each spring with the bold song from the tiny male wren.
For nearly a month the first sound I hear each morning is the high-pitched notes of this hopeful bird as he sings his little heart out with great anticipation of attracting a mate.
Between times when he is not singing, he might be moving furniture, or nesting material, into the tiny wren box I have placed at the edge of the garden.
Imagine a little white box with a floor area of only 4-by-4 inches. If all goes well it will soon be filled with a half dozen or more tiny eggs and an attentive female who will bring them to life, feed and nourish them until they leave the nest to live lives of their own.
It’s a drama that touches any heart and begins with the little male singing his simple song.
If all goes well an interested female will show up, and the male will proudly show off the home he has selected. If she approves, she will complete the nest and eventually lay eggs.
Again, this year the process seems to be working as destined. The once crude bundle of twigs has now been transformed into a nest and for the past three nights the female house wren has spent the night inside.
Soon we should have eggs.
Our little nestbox is equipped with a tiny infrared camera that allows us to follow this amazing process, even in darkness. Over the past few years we have become Grand Wrenparents to three successful nesting cycles and each one has been a fascinating and intimate look at nature, not to mention emotional when the chicks leave the nest.
It’s amazing how vested we became in the process. When it was too cold, we worried. When it was too hot, we worried and if the parent was gone for what seemed like too long of a time, we worried. In our human arrogance we thought we knew more than these beautiful little birds, but this is nothing new to wrens and every clutch has been 100 percent successful.
I’m not sure what determines this, but the nesting process this year is about two week earlier than it has been the past two years.
Historically nest building began in the latter weeks of March with a female spending her first nights inside the box in early April. Typically, the female spends about four nights inside before the eggs appear.
In 2018 the process was complete with seven eggs incubated, hatched and chicks fledged by May 22. In 2019 the process was completed by May 10.
And what a fascinating process it is.
During the incubation process, the eggs are turned periodically and the female wren roosts with fluffed feathers to keep things cozy and warm.
Once the eggs have hatched, the activity becomes nonstop as both parents participate in feeding.
I was fascinated to watch eggs hatching. The adult birds were very fastidious, removing the eggs shells and flying some distance away rather than simply dumping them outside the nestbox. This is likely done to avoid signaling to predators that a nest is close by.
Last spring, we had seven chicks and I have no idea how parent wrens were able to make sure each was fed appropriately.
At the slightest sound, seven huge mouths would pop open and the nestbox would be filled with wild squawks as chicks competed for a tasty insect or grub brought by a parent bird.
After feeding, the chicks would turn with heads down and lift their rumps and the parent would remove waste sacks that were also transported some distance from the nest.
Over the weeks, the miracle of life would unfold, with eyes opening, feathers developing and seven birds ready to enter the world.
You can only imagine the chaos of seven mature chicks and an adult bird crammed into a little fourby-four box.
Parents began coaxing the chicks into the outside world by bringing food but remaining outside. Initially little heads would pop out of the box and within a day, all chicks were gone.
Again, this season we will be posting short videos and images on the Mt. Whoville Wren Nesting Facebook page so bird lovers can follow the nesting cycle.