Clarice,

I, too, had a Bewick's wren nest in a styrofoam faucet cover--only I didn't know it
until I took the cover off to use the hose [to wash the bird bath]. The 5 eggs
fell to the ground, but since they were only 2-3 feet above the ground, they did
not break. I put the eggs back into the nest, and moved the whole affair over and
up about 2 feet each . The female came back, scolding, but would not sit in the
nest. I, of course, was upset. I believe that I may put a styrofoam cover up
next winter just for her use, and use a different kind of cover for the faucets--I
have never had a Bewick's wren nest in my yard before--how I love the male's bubbly
song, and I enjoy knowing that a wren is claiming the territory.


Chris Southwick
north Seattle
chriss at micronics.net

"mail to:jbroadus at seanet.com" wrote:

> Saturday I found a dead Bewick's wren about two feet from a predated nest.
> The wren had a wound on it's back but was other wise intact.
> The nest was build inside a faucet cover made of styrofoam- one of the boob
> shaped kind, over a hose bib about two feet off the ground. It had been
> pulled away and one egg was broken, but there are still four cream colored
> ones intact.
> The nest is quite the urban affair. The base layer is the pink insulation
> material we filled the cover with, then grass, plastic, dog hair and feathers.
> We took the nest out and took off the cover because it was obviously note a
> good choice of homesites.
>
> Question #1 is: if the predator
> was a cat, why didn't it eat the wren, or at least carry it away?
>
> Question # 2 is: I have read that wren will attack other birds nests - was the
> wren the predator and this was someone else's nest?
>
> Clarice Clark
> Puyallup, WA. 98371
> mailto:jbroadus at seanet.com