How to Deter House Wrens from Nestboxes

Hablando de nidos de pájaros :D

 

 

Sent to you by luishernando via Google Reader:

 

 

How to Deter House Wrens from Nestboxes

via How to of the Day on 6/24/12

House Wren

House sparrows and European starlings aren't the only species that will harm birds nesting in your nestboxes. The house wren (Troglodytes aedon) can be a very aggressive bird when it comes to nest site competition, and will remove or peck the eggs and destroy nests of other cavity nesters. They can be a nuisance, and just as damaging as sparrows. Use this how-to and keep your songbirds safe.

Edit Steps

1. 

   House Wrens prefer woody areas to nest in.
   Situate nestboxes away from wren habitat. House wrens prefer wooded areas as nesting habitats. Keep your boxes at least, although preferably more, 50 feet (approximately 15 meters) away from trees and brush. Also, as you should with all nestboxes, house wrens or not, keep feeders that minimum distance away as well. This will keep the nest site safer and reduce the competition the parents will be facing.
2. 

   Remove any dummy nests you find.
   Be observant and ready to remove any twig dummy nests. You may find a weird looking nest of twigs in one of your boxes. This "dummy nest" may or may not be used, as the male wren builds this to offer his mate a choice for nesting. Remove any twig nests once you see them. Although house wrens can be persistent, doing this will help.
3. Plug up the entrance hole. While this may drive bluebirds looking for a potential site, the wrens may eventually lose interest. Be aware this method may not be 100 percent effective.
4. Use a wren guard. These can prove effective, and usually will not affect the nesting birds. You may put up the guard before nesting season, but this may cause birds to decide not to nest in your box. If you're putting it up when breeding season has already begun, at least wait until the birds have eggs. This is very important, as birds are generally more dedicated to stay put when they've laid eggs or have nestlings.^[1]
5. 

   If they are too stubborn, put up boxes in their ideal habitat.
   House wrens can be stubborn, and sometimes are just too hard to get rid of. An option is to put up other nestboxes for the wrens––unlike sparrows that will ignore new boxes, the wrens may choose to use the new one. However, this is not a very good option, as the wren population may explode. This method usually does more harm than good, so think very carefully before trialing it.

Edit Tips

• 

  House Wrens tend to avoid martin houses.
  Using a purple martin house is a good idea. It won't get bluebirds, but wrens tend to not use it.
• Though fake gourds can attract nesters, wrens prefer to nest in these. Don't use them.

• • Unlike house sparrows and starlings, wrens are native to North America, and consume vast quantities of insects (at least for their size). They do not eat seed or frequent bird feeders, and should be considered beneficial by gardeners and farmers.

Edit Warnings

• In North America, House Wrens are native birds! Harming them is illegal. Never remove active nests, eggs, or young. You do not have to hurt them to stop their destruction.

Edit Things You'll Need

• Wren guard

Edit Related wikiHows

• How to Make a Sparrow Nestbox
• How to Make an Eastern Bluebird Nestbox
• How to Build a Western Bluebird Nestbox
• How to Build a Chickadee Nestbox
• How to Build a Tufted Titmouse Nestbox

Edit Sources and Citations

Article Tools

• Read on wikiHow
• Email this Article
• Edit
• Discuss

 

 

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to How to of the Day using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites