We had a situation happen this spring with this kind of behavior. We were thrilled to have Red-breasted Nuthatches nesting in one of our boxes here in Lakewood. I watched the activity as the birds went in and out of the box for nearly two weeks. One morning, I heard the male calling over and over outside of the box. The next day I noticed the wrens were inspecting the nest. I grabbed a ladder and looked inside to find three pierced nestlings. The nuthatches moved on and the wrens took over the box. We also had Flickers nesting in a box to find their nestlings thrown about the yard and Starlings in the box. We sealed up the hole with popsicle sticks to keep the Starlings out. After much persistence the Starlings gave up but the Flickers never returned. Nature is cruel!!
Mark ChavezLakewood-Green Mtnhttp://jaeger29.smugmug.com/ ----- Original Message -----From: Luger <[email protected]>To: [email protected]: Mon, 13 Jul 2015 21:34:21 -0000 (UTC)Subject: [cobirds] Wren fatalities CObirders, I'm puzzled. Last month we hung a Wren box and got a tenant almost immediately. This week for two days I watched a wren bugging and carrying insects back to the box. Then yesterday I found a wriggling hatchling in death throws on the ground beneath the box and another hatchling dead a little further away on the ground covered with ants. The dead bird, though further from the box, still had the shell with the body. Just above my head there was a wren watching me from the house opening. The one still alive had a tiny bloody hole on the back of its head that looked like a beak pinch mark from where it was tossed from the box. What the heck happened? Did the parent kill the hatchlings? Has anyone seen this happen before? There is still a Wren coming and going but not with food. Perplexed, Myrna LugerAcross from Horsetooth Mtn Pk -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected] post to this group, send email to [email protected] view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/B2530B46-BED1-461D-AC66-3C55340E37F1%40comcast.net.For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/28946447.4786564.1436834296505.JavaMail.zimbra%40comcast.net. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
