Wrens

I've known for a while that we have wrens. Several years back I had noticed a small bird that would fly out from underneath my garage door when I would enter the garage. At that time, I did not get a good enough glance to know for sure which bird was frequenting the garage.

One year we had some boxes that stayed too long on the back porch. I noticed that I had a small bird that would take a very circuitous route that would end by him darting into the box. The frequency of the trips told me that there had to be a nest - so naturally the boxes stayed through the summer. Definitely a wren, it was so much fun to watch it land on the table, then the chair, then the top of the box. Very wary, it waited until it thought no one was looking before entering the box.

A couple of years ago, I put out a series of wren nesting boxes. I'm not sure the wrens are using them. But I have a glass bird feeder with a small area of broken glass - they are nesting there. This is the second year for that nest.

With my suet feeder in the front yard, I have a pair of wrens that sneak in to eat. They never stay long and seem much more nervous than the white crowned sparrows. I tried to put out a mealy worm feeder near the front porch, but they never found it.

For a small bird, they have an amazingly strong call. Very sharp, very sweet and distinctive . . . ter radio radio radio tweet . . . .ter radio radio radio tweet

I've trying to learn my bird calls. I can now pick out the Carolina wren's distinctive call. I can't always seem them - but I hear them every morning.