Sunday, February 15, 2009

Little Male Wren

In an earlier post I told everyone about a little male Wren that returns to my yard every spring, Well he's back. I have named him Adonis, It suits him well because he is a very handsome and romantic little guy, working for several days building nest after nest and singing at the top of his lungs continuously to let his mate know he has begun preparing a home for her to return to and begin their first family of the season. He is such a faithful little guy, and even helps feed the babies until they leave the nest in time for the wrens to mate again and raise their second and last family for the season.

Adonis has already built two nests that I know of in the front yard, But this year not only is he starting early, but he is overdoing it a bit. He has made the hole in my gourd birdhouses a lot larger than they were, and stuffed them way too full. This is usually the case but this year they are extra full. I don't know if the female will like the larger entrance he has made, I guess we will find out. Last year his usual mate did not return, maybe that is why he's starting early this year. I am confident that he will find a new love because he has great since of family values. Most male wrens build the nests and disappear after mating, leaving the female to hatch the eggs and tend to the babies while he entices another mate to one of his previously built nests. Not Adonis he stays with the one mate all season and helps her through both mating periods. He is always looking for tasty bugs to feed his young and brings it back to the nest, singing to let his mate know he has returned with food, she won't let him in while she is there but he goes in as soon as she leaves to find food for the babies too. He passes out the food and pops out of the birdhouse and sings again to let her know he is leaving to find more food and she returns herself, they take turns like this all day long. No wonder she returns every year to him. He is a very faithful little guy.

Sometimes Adonis will bring his babies a tiny white worm that they apparently do not like the taste of and he has to take it back, I see him do this over and over, as if he thinks that they may eat it eventually, I don't understand, if he likes those little white worms so much why he doesn't eat it himself, but No, he always takes it back where he got it. Hmmmmmm, Strange little guy. Maybe it's a birds equivalent to spinach, (good for you but, nasty tasting.) Oh well there are many more bugs where that came from. He perches on the shepard's hook that holds my hummingbird feeder singing out a loud sharp song and dives into the plants, He definitely helps to keep the bug population down in my gardens and can always be seen hopping around the flower beds searching for food to Feed all of those hungry babies. He has earned his place in my garden.
I guess, I'll have to grow some more gourds this year to make them some new houses. The only one he hasn't messed up is the one I left natural and just put a protective coating on it, He prefers them painted and decorated. See, I told you he is very romantic. I don't mind making him more houses. If he attracts a new mate this year I will call her Aphrodite. I hope she chooses one of the nests he has built close to the house so I can see it well. I have lost my binoculars, I guess I had better find them, after all it's almost SPRING. YEAH!!!!!!!
the birdlady

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I enjoyed your post very much! I too have a wren house... we actually put it on the front porch out front our bedroom window (not so smart for looking forward to sleeping in). This is my first wren house, we just moved here about a month before I heard a male wren singing so that day we went out and bought a wren house. Three days later he was moving in!!! Eventually his mate came to check it out, he just like your Andonis stayed till the very last day which sadly I missed the fledglings but I could still hear them nearby.

Then a few weeks ago I heard another male (different song)and found many of the twigs the other wrens had used on the porch while they were bringing new twigs. The male stuck by for a while but I got pretty upset when a few days, then a week, then over a week passed by and no peep from him. The female is still in the house going through the motions but I can't imagine how lonely she must be (even though they seemed to fight a lot, ha ha). Until reading your post I hadn't realized that the males do often leave. I'm so glad I got to see the happier couple for our first brood. I hope they return again next Spring. Thanks for sharing!

Holly

birdlady said...

I am happy to hear that you liked my post on Adonis. He did return this year, But he has a different mate. He built three nests in my yard alone, just to please her. She ended uo picking a plain gourd birdhouse in my ornamental plum tree. I can't see into it, but I know there are fledglings in there because I see them both parents darting back and forth with food for the babies.
I got a good look at her last week while she was drinking from the birdbath. She doesn't come out of the nest much, He does most of the feeding. Some people say it's probably a different bird, but I can tell the difference not only by looks but also the way he acts.
birdlady