The wren will, on occasion, grab the helpless chicks and toss them out of the box and onto the ground below.

If the little egg-piercer finds eggs that have already hatched, it carries out an even more dastardly deed. Now comes the “don’t look” part.įilling an empty box with sticks, physically removing an active nest and destroying a neighbor’s eggs are all bad, but House Wrens (which should not be confused with their less troublesome cousins, Carolina Wrens) have an even uglier trick up their feathered sleeves. How does it do that? It just pierces the shells with its sharp beak and that’s the end of that. When a wren discovers another bird’s eggs, it will make sure they never hatch. If it finds a nest that has already been built, the psycho wren will actually remove the nest, bit by bit, like a tiny repo man.Īnd it gets worse. It doesn’t like having neighbors and will often fill nearby birdhouses with twigs in order to prevent any other bird (chickadee, titmouse, bluebird, etc.) from moving in. With its bubbly song and energetic antics, the wren is fun to watch, but it also has serious control issues. Many folks don’t like to admit it, but the House Wren, a spirited and popular backyard bird, has a real dark side. This piece of info puts the spotlight squarely on an unlikely suspect. But here’s the thing: Your tiny bluebirds weren’t eaten, they were just dead on the ground. There are countless creatures that are more than willing to make a meal out of baby birds. Other possible perpetrators include red squirrels, chipmunks, mice and the list goes on. If it had, you would have found me passed out on the ground right next to the baby birds. More than one person has opened a nest box and discovered a snake staring back at them. Surprisingly, snakes are another problem.

You said that you found no signs of trouble, so both animals are off the hook…once again, this time. When cats and raccoons strike, telltale nesting material is found sticking out of the hole or on the ground below. And while raccoons can be a problem for baby birds and cats are a massive problem for birds of any age, neither is guilty this time. With their long legs and claws, either creature could easily reach into a house and drag out its contents. However, your birdhouse offers no protection from raccoons or those dreaded housecats.

House wren