I would suspect that the sticks were put in the boxes by a male House Wren. Each male House Wren tries to fill as many cavities as possible with sticks on his territory. When the female chooses a cavity for a nest, she then adds the soft inner lining.

Greg Butcher
Director of Bird Conservation
National Audubon Society
1150 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 600
Washington DC 20036
Cell phone: 414-238-5298
Fax: 202-861-4290


Protecting our Great Natural Heritage through the Important Bird Areas program,<http://www.audubon.org/bird/iba>, 
and the WatchList, <http://www.audubon.org/bird/watchlist>.



-----Original Message-----
From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of JAMES WILSON
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2007 2:30 PM
To: 
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Question on nest in Bluebird box


Yesterday at Kennard Elementary School in Centreville, my birding class 
cleaned out the bluebird nesting boxes.  There are 8 nesting boxes around 
the school and the field beside it.  Last year, we had one bluebird and one 
tree swallow in the 4 boxes that we put up.  One of the teachers put up 4 
additional nesting boxes that I did not check during the season.  These 
boxes were the ones with an oval opening and the front slants inward toward 
the post.  When we cleaned these boxes this year, we found 3 nests made 
almost entirely of sticks with little, if any, fine material such as grass 
or moss.  Of course, this material could have decomposed during the year.  I 
do not have a bird's nest book, but I did some research on the internet and 
in the Birder's Handbook.  I believe that a Carolina Wren was the nester.

Can anyone confirm/deny my guess as to the nester?
Many thanks.

Jim Wilson
Queenstown