We have a fairly large population of House Wrens here. They can be a bit of a nuisance, taking over BlueBird boxes (and even occasionally damaging eggs), but they’re feisty little things who’re totally not afraid of the House Sparrows. They tend to stuff the boxes (and occasionally my manual well pump head) full of sticks to make their nests in.
This year we have a new twist. We have a half dead tree in our yard. The Pileated Woodpeckers love it. Last fall a Downy appeared to make a nesting hole in it, and at one point we even saw a layer of feathers in the hole, but nothing came of it. Then, last week, I noticed the House Wren dragging sticks to that tree, but NOT going into the Bluebird box! A change of viewing angle and I realized he was stuffing them into the woodpecker hole! Today I got a picture of it. That little Wren has been singing his heart out in that tree, here’s hoping he decides he likes that spot better than the well pump this year!
