Yesterday, I was out to check on the squirrel proof Feeder with the house wren nest. On Monday, Mr. Neil sent over photos showing that three of the four eggs had hatched. I wanted to see if the final egg hatched and found something completely unexpected:
One chick and no eggs. Huh? What the heck happened? I have a couple of theories:
1. It was very hot on Tuesday–well into the 90s. This feeder is made of metal and gets late afternoon sun. Did the other chicks die from the heat and the wrens remove them?
2. A snake came up the pole and was able to eat the other chicks? But why is only one chick left? Usually snakes take everything…unless this was a really tiny snake?
I don’t know. I did notice that the male didn’t sing like he usually does–has he given up on the territory? I did see a wren leave the feeder a few times, so I know at least one of the pair is still feeding this chick. I’ll be interested to see if this bird actually leaves the nest.
It’s a demonstration of how wrens and many other bird species play the odds when raising chicks. They’ll go for an extra brood, they’ll try out a new next spot, they lay four to five eggs–if it works, great! If it doesn’t, they’ll know better next time.
If I saw a snake slithering up a feeder post I’d pass out.
Ugh! I hope the parents either move the chick or keep feeding it. It would break my heart to think of that little chick being abandoned. Yes, “nature” and all, but still.
My little wren made her nest on our screened in porch in between folds of a moving quilt/blanket! I found this out by seeing 2 baby wrens flying around the porch trying to get out. One of the parents was calling for them to follow. I very gently managed to cup them (one by one) in my hands and placed them on the outer deck on a tree pot. Parent wren called to them and they flew off to it very awkwardly! Later in the day, I found a third little wren trying to get to the parent. I did the same for this one. He flew to the other side of the deck, the parent flew onto the railing and called, then flew into the wisteria bush. After a few minutes, the little wren flew off (again awkwardly) to the bush. The whole family was reunited. I have not seen the babies since then. But have seen the adults.
Hmmz, I think this chick won’t survive, if it’s on his own, but nature has some strange way’s
I hope one of the parents continues to feed it. Feeding just one baby shouldn’t be too difficult, even if only one bird is doing it. Keep us posted!
Thanks, everyone! We’re hopeful too. We’ll know more by the end of this week.