Help - Invasion of Wrens

[Sharon - Central TX]

For the first time in nine years, we have wrens building *nests* in four out of eight gourds on one pole. Hubby has cleaned them out two days in a row and they are back at it again today. They seem to be focused on one gourd more than the others. Will they give up eventually if we keep cleaning out their nest(s) or keep building? And if we aren't able to clean the gourds out every day and they do manage to lay eggs, are they any threat to the martins? I haven't been able to get close enough to see if they are Carolina wrens or House wrens. We are in Central TX and in trying to find out info on the forum, it sounds like they are most likely the Carolina. They've always built in a nest box hanging from one of our trees previously but I noticed there were wasps in there. Again hubby cleaned that out recently too but the wasps have returned. We've fought snakes, owls, hawks, starlings and house sparrows. It never occurred to me we would be fighting with wrens too (lol). Sharon

[Jeff Robinson]

Sharon,

Have you tried a thin coating of vaseline on ceiling/areas the wasps are building their nests in the box? That should help get rid of the wasps and might get the House Wrens back where they belong. I'm not sure,but maybe a dusting of 7-Dust might also work, or at least supplement the thin coat of vaseline.

There's a definite difference in song of the House Wren and Carolina Wren. If they were Carolina Wrens, I wouldn't even mess with them, but that's just me.

I've experienced problems with House Wrens pecking BB and Martin eggs every year, so I stay active at ensuring they never "complete" a nest to lay eggs in. This year I'm placing a couple Wren boxes on my back fence with the entrances facing away from my yard and "maybe" they'll leave everything else alone?

Jeff

[Louise Chambers]

They are most likely carolina wrens or bewick's wrens - neither is known to destroy eggs, as house wrens sometimes do. Try to get a photo, though - just in case.

Removing nest starts as often as possible will help, and also putting up a single box or gourd just for the wrens, away from the martin systems.

For the wasps, rub ivory bar soap onto the ceiling or thin film of petroleum jelly.

[Greg]

I fought an extremely persistent wren last year. He would absolutely stuff gourds full of twigs. Then, when I started tearing the nests out he started using thorny twigs as if to say..."take that." I ended up hanging a couple small gourds from some branches nearby and he found those and began filling those instead and when he found that I didn't take the nests out of those, he gave up on my martin gourds.

[Tommie D]

I have eight Wren house's, So just get them their own housing and enjoy!

[Brad-AL]

How close are the nearest tree's to your colony? The only time I have ever had any problems with a wren building a nest in anything not meant for wrens was when I put a Bluebird box too close to a wooded area. I've never seen them build a nest in a cavity in a wide open area.

[Sharon - Central TX]

Thank you for all your suggestions. Louise it is a Bewick's Wren. I couldn't get close enough for a picture but as I was looking out the window watching all the birds this morning (with no camera handy), he flew to the fence right outside the window and posed for me, first his front side and then his back side (lol). It was as if he knew I needed to identify him so he stayed long enough for me to do so. I studied him closely then went to my Sibley's. He was definitely a Bewick's.
We keep removing the nest and although we have provided two more wren houses, the pair seems to be committed to the gourd. The one house that had the wasps now has a nest of some type (which now has vaseline painted on the inside roof), but my husband saw it and I need to check it out to see what kind it is. We will be going out of town soon for a few days so the wrens will have plenty of time to rebuild and lay eggs even if we keep cleaning out the gourd until then. I guess we'll just have to live with it this year and try to provide more houses next year. We haven't had them nest for a while due to rat snakes, which are abundant here, that kept getting into the nest boxes. In fact, we took most of the boxes down for that reason.
Brad, there is an oak tree about 25-30 feet from the martin system. Other than that, there is nothing near it. It is behind our single story house about the same distance, but is completely open on three sides for about an acre and then a lake. In the past wrens have built on our back porch, as well as on a fence in a box and another box outside a window under a tree. We've lost all of our Barnies due to snakes getting into their nests . They quit returning to nest. But that could also be that newer homes around us have been built that have higher front porches.
I love all our birds and watching them. I just wish that nature wasn't so cruel at times.
Sharon

[Bill Kepley]

A possible benifit to having wrens nesting is, in Ohio, they don't like hosp! Since I placed wren housing around our property, there have been less problems with the hosp bothering the pm , bb, & ts .

[apundt-TX]

How many martins do you have now?

[Sharon - Central TX]

Al,
We are down by quite a few birds this year. We've had several hawk attacks, more than ever before, and I don't know if that is the reason or not. Not sure yet how many martins we have. I only counted about 16 birds coming in this evening but some could have come in earlier. So far it has been rather discouraging. Last year we had at least 23 pair. I know it's still early and we could pick up some sub adults yet. Some of the birds that claimed gourds this season have disappeared, probably the work of a predator.
Sharon

[Leandortree]

House Wrens can be bad news for TS, BB, Purple Martins, and others.
I like the little birds (HW) very much, but I would not let them nest on my property.
The first thing a House wren does once they have taken interest in a nest box is to do a thorough house cleaning. Martin nest's are often unattended while the martins are out feeding; if a House Wren comes along during the martins absence the wren will throw eggs and all out, and fill the cavity with twigs. A male HW may try to claim several cavities, and fill them with small sticks. If you allow House Wrens to nest near your colony, you are increasing the chance of a problem with these sweet little birds! If I see a HW taking interest in a bird box , I immediately close the box, until the bird moves along! I often catch a House Wren in one of my nest box traps; I leave them in for about 30minutes before I release them, then they don't go back in.