Musical Murderer!

A few days ago a little house wren began to hang around our place. He was hard to spot - he was tiny and a light brown color that blended in. He had a beautiful song that could be heard clearly from a distance.

He started building a nest in several bird houses on the opposite side of the yard from the swallows. We were delighted. We learned that the male wren will start building several nests close together and sing to establish territory and attract a mate. The mate then comes and selects one nest from the several he has started and finishes building it.

It was fun to watch him try to take long sticks into the birdhouse. Sometimes he dropped it, but he worked hard and persistently. He took breaks from his working to sing his melodious song.

Yesterday morning our swallows on the other side of the yard were upset and abandoned their nest. Then I found 2 of their eggs on the ground that had been pecked to kill them. We were puzzled until I read on the internet that house wrens will do this to establish territory (they claim half an acre!) and eliminate competition. We also learned that once house wrens have nested in an area they will return year after year and not allow other birds in their territory.

So we decided the house wrens were not welcome and Mal covered over the entrances to the birdhouses so they couldn't nest. The wren was very puzzled and hopped around looking from all angles, wondering where the entrance could have disapppeared to! Then he gave up. Now both swallows and wren are gone.

This week would have been the week the baby swallows would have hatched. We miss them.

Who would have thought it of a tiny little songbird?