Amy in the Garden

I’m busy with real estate right now. I saw an English Sparrow investigating our Church birdhouse, and knew the time for spring cleaning had come.

The birdhouse was a wedding gift, which makes it 25 years old. I love that it is a New England-style church, I love that it is a duplex with an apartment in the front and back, and I especially love that the hole is the perfect diameter for wrens. (I confess I prefer hosting wrens over sparrows.)

One steeple succumbed to the winter -- not bad for a 25 year-old wooden structure.

So Husband helped. He turned his head upside down, and used the electric drill to remove the screws from the base of the birdhouse. He took the birdhouse and steeple back to his workshop to glue them back together.

Here’s a look at the duplex apartment:

Inside, and upside down, the apartments are separated by a sheet of metal.

A damp base of moss had to be removed, of course, to allow the wood to dry.

I pulled out two square cubes of nesting material. The wrens favor nubbly twigs. You’ll see white puffy objects still tangled in the twigs. These are fecal sacs. The nestlings produce their waste in neatly packaged “diaper bags.” The parents remove these sacs, keeping the nest sanitary, and drop them far away from the nest, keeping the nest safe from predators. No evidence of babies = less chance a predator will be alerted.

Husband replaced the birdhouse, and with the steeple glued back in place, it is ready for the 2011 occupants. I’m waiting for the bubbling call of the nesting parents!

WORDS FROM OTHERS

“Carolina Wrens build nests of twigs and grass. Wrens will lay 2 broods in the nesting season (typically April to July). The male House Wren builds several nests and the female chooses which nest she prefers. The other nests may be used by the male to discourage other male wrens from nesting in the same territory. Carolina wrens do not only pair during breeding season but form bonds for life and engage in activities together year round.

“A group of wrens has many collective nouns, including a “chime”, “flight”, “flock”, and “herd” of wrens.”

— Wild Birds Unlimited website, the East Lansing, MI, blog