How to beat the attack of the House Wren

Written by Jack Sanders
Thursday, 17 June 2010 11:01

“I was hoping to email you some good news about my bluebirds’ second nesting, but that isn’t going to happen,” writes June Launiere of Weston.

You may recall that June reported recently that a pair of bluebirds successfully raised five offspring after having started a nest in late March in one of her three bluebird boxes.

As the bluebirds were preparing a second brood, a House Wren showed up and began harassing them.

“The Bluebirds have repeatedly chased him off, but he is a persistent little terror, just waiting for the right moment,” June writes. “Today he finally was able to complete his mission of destroying the Bluebird eggs and then tossing them out of the nest box onto the ground below.”

June says, “This is why it is so important to give the bluebirds a head-start ‘before’ the House Wren returns in the spring. Please let your readers know that according to the Bluebird Society, if you want to attract bluebirds you need to erect at least two bluebird houses and each should be erected on a pole with a predator baffle, not on a tree. They should be in place by February or March.

“All birdhouses in general should be cleaned out after each nesting and at the end of nesting season, and then put back up again for the long cold winter. Birds do use them over the winter. In fact, I have discovered even migrating birds take advantage of them, including hummers.”

Radio wrens

Speaking of House Wrens, Ellen Blackstone of the National Public Radio show, BirdNote (singular!) happened upon our recent column on these noisy birds, and notes that her show just had a broadcast featuring them. You can hear it at birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=749.

BirdNote, based on Washington State, is carried on stations across the country, including Connecticut Public Radio weekdays at 5:49 a.m./3:04 p.m. If you listen to podcasts, they have one.

Watch your step!

Bird feeding can be hazardous to your health?

Well, like anything else, stuff happens, and no one knows that better than Betty Brosius, who is Ridgefield’s town planner. She was in her yard over Memorial Day weekend, refilling a bird feeder, when she fell. She broke her ankle in several places and pulled ligaments. She wound up undergoing surgery and cannot drive a car for two months.

“It was filling the suet feeder that did me in — I keep it filled so that the woodpeckers don’t knock on my house all day long,” she said.

“It frustrates me terribly that I can’t get out there to feed them now,” Betty writes. “I love to watch the birds in the backyard. I may figure out a way to toss some seed from the back door, just to do something.”

Betty says that in the future, “I will be more careful, and slow down the next time I am out there! I have actually slipped on the ice in the winter, doing the same thing, but survived without injury at that time. I just move too fast and I am always in a hurry.”

She adds that “I got a hard cast on my leg yesterday, and it’s ‘robin’s egg blue.’ How appropriate!”

Coming up

Trip to North Salem to Watch Bobolinks, sponsored by the Bedford Audubon Society and the North Salem Open Land Foundation, Saturday, June 19, 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., carpool from Bylane Farm, 35 Todd Road, Goldens Bridge. 914-232-4806, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , BedfordAudubon.org

Bird Observation Hike, with Milan Bull of Connecticut Audubon, Saturday, June 26, 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., Aspetuck Land Trust at Stonebridge Preserve parking lot, Newtown Turnpike, near Stonebridge Rd., Weston (on Wilton line), reserve via David Brant, dbrant @ aspetucklandtrust.org.

Hummingbirds: Feathered Gems, Gina Nichol, former Audubon staff member, illustrates the amazing adaptations of these birds and describes their fascinating life histories, Saturday, July 17, 3:30-4:30 pm, $5, Audubon Greenwich, 613 Riversville Road, Greenwich.audubon.org.

Sharon Audubon Festival, nature walks, bird programs, music, food, displays, Saturday and Sunday, Aug.14 & 15, 9: to 5, 860-364-0520, sharon.audubon.org.

Saturday Morning Bird Walks with Luke Tiller; to register, sunrisebirding.com/walks.htm; 203-453-6724, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

First Sundays, birding at Greenwich Point with Meredith Sampson of Wild Wings, and other guides, 203-637-9822.

Copyright 2010 by Jack Sanders. Send sightings or comments to: jackfsanders [at sign] yahoo.com, or to Bird Notes, Box 1019, Ridgefield, CT 06877; or call 203-438-1183, extension BIRD (2473), and leave a message with your report, spelling your first and last names and telling us your town. If you need help identifying a bird, try your local nature center. If you find an injured bird, call wildlife rehabilitator Darlene Wimbrow of Redding, 203-438-0618, Wildlife in Crisis of Weston, 203-544-9913, or Wild Wings of Greenwich, 203-637-9822. The columnist’s website is www. sandersbooks. com.