Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 17:51:38 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Arlene Ripley Subject: Re: Wren nest question In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed At 04:17 PM 3/2/01, you wrote: >Question- do you think they will abandon the nest? Tom, To add to Greg's observations about nest abandonment--we usually have Carolina Wrens nesting in our garage at some point during the nesting season. It doesn't take much looking to find the nest, however one year they built in the seed/fertilizer spreader which was hanging with its front toward the garage wall. We had no idea a nest was in there until we saw the wren fly out one day. There were no eggs in the nest. Accidentally we forgot to leave the garage door cracked open on the day the wren was to lay her first egg. Poor thing laid the egg outside right at the bottom of the garage door which I found later that morning. I decided to put the egg in the nest. Guess what? She laid four more eggs and all eventually hatched! I'd say you have a good chance that they won't abandon. As to the other wrens "helping out." I've never seen that. Could it be that it is not a new nest but and old one and the wrens are using it for roosting? My wrens use a roosting basket of sphagnum moss that I have hanging under an eave all winter long. It could be that you just disturbe=d their roost. ///////// Arlene Ripley | || Calvert County, MD | 0 || aripley@nestbox.com | || http://www.nestbox.com || ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================