Avian Construction Site

Taken from the other side of the window glass.

What am I curious about today? Not how to pace through ‘how do I live through this crazy time?’ What has piqued my curiosity this morning is the House Wren outside my window. Writing from my desk this morning, I kept looking up at the one little brown bird fussing and fluffing the little nest I wrote about on Wednesday. There has only been one bird yesterday and today, not the two that I originally saw. Wanting to go outside and investigate, I was very hesitant. After the chittering chastisement I received Wednesday for just taking a picture outside, I thought it best to stay at this distance.

I have really wanted to know - are these birds wrens or  chick-a-dees? Once more, Google to the rescue. I located an Audubon site with images, sounds and nesting habits. It confirmed to me that, very likely, House Wrens are taking up residence in the flowering shrub outside my window. But then my curiosity took hold again. Why am I only seeing one bird ~ not two? Hmm - in documentaries I’ve learned that some other birds have curious nesting habits. The male makes the nest - and some make a big fuss over it. Is this what is going on? So back to the Audubon site for a little reading.

It turns out that House Wrens do indeed share that behaviour with a bit of a twist. Two nests are built by the male. Obviously quite a distance from each other as I only see one. One nest may be the permanent residence, while the other is a ‘dummy’ nest. The female evaluates both nests and decides which one she thinks would make the best one for her eggs. I did see the two of them this morning. The male still fussing over the placement of teeny tiny twigs and fluff. He has created a quite substantial nest to this human’s eye. The female, sitting a couple branches over and watching, will be the judge of his work. I do hope she chooses the nest I can see so I can keep an eye on the life of these two ordinary brown House Wrens and any chicks that enter the world.

“The knowledge of all things is possible.”

~ Leonardo da Vinci