Wren Nestlings

Today I'm featuring a feathered native, the Carolina Wren.  This bird is a year round resident in the eastern two thirds of Texas and much of the Eastern US and Eastern Mexico.  On April 7th my husband, Michael,  heard something hit the garage door window and on inspection found this mother wren stunned on the ground outside the garage.  He scooped her up and put her on our back deck rail. With some drops of water she began to revive, but sat still enough for a few minutes to give me the opportunity to take these close-up shots.  Within the next couple of weeks, the wren built a nest in a nest box outside our garage, laid four eggs, incubated, and hatched out four tiny wren chicks, and then fed them till they fledged and left the nest. The whole process took place all in the month of April more or less.  Incubation time for these birds is 12 to 14 days and is only done by the female.  Now there are at least three new eggs in the nest ready for round two.

Mother Wren

Mother Wren

Wren nest with eggs -white with brown speckles

Newly hatched baby Wrens

Notice how many different materials are used to build this nest, from cedar bark to cedar and oak leaves, than layers of feathers from the wren and other birds and even bits of plastic or paper. 

"Feed me, feed me"

Older Wren chicks before fledging 

Wrens are known to build several nests at the same time to act as decoys for predators.  This mother built one of her nests in my bicycle helmet that was hanging on my bike in the garage.