For many years around the 10th of May we have been awakened by the enchanting song of the return of what we have called, Our Wrens, Now there was no way of knowing whether they were the same wrens each year as we did not tag or spray paint them. But that was not important. The male usually returned first and a few days or a week later it's mate would also show up and then they would begin housekeeping in a Wren House I had attached to our house just outside our bedroom window.
They were busy little bodies, as they carried small twigs to lay the base of their nest inside the house. It was interesting to watch as they maneuvered the sticks around so that they could get them in though the narrow opening., but in most cases they made every stick and other materials eventually work and would succeed in getting the nest up in a few days. Both wrens were singers, but the father wren was the most enthusiastic and would sit on the top of the their house or our window ledge and sing or maybe it would be better described as a warble. They are such little birds but sure are able to bring forth some very melodious music and for very extended lengths of time on many occasions.
Now there are a number of varieties of wrens from the one we in this area are most familiar with, the House Wren. In our Bird book we also found that there are a number of other varieties of wrens through out North America such as: the Winter Wren, the Bewick Wren, Carolina Wren, Cactus Wren, Rock Wren, Cannyon Wren, Marsh Wren and Sedge Wren.
Wrens are mostly insect eating birds and during the period of raising their young both parents are keep busy carrying food to the young and changing their diapers (they actually remove the young birds excretions by carrying them out of the wren house in their beaks)
Well about ten days ago, we were awakened during the night when we heard a ruckus outside our bedroom window and realized some creature was attacking the wren house. It was too dark to determine whether it was a cat or a raccoon (which frequents this area) but the following morning we were not awakened by the melodious voices of those very special wrens. It has now been about ten days and it is as though fall has come early and they have packed their bags and returned to their winter quarters. But we know that is not true and that maybe next spring it could be Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" >http://www.rachelcarson.org/< as far as "Our Little Wrens" are
Yes, there are still wrens around and they can be heard on a daily basis around our homestead but that one very special family of wrens that is now no longer there leaves both of us missing those early morning wake up calls. It is surprising how we get so use to the ordinary daily songs of birds that we just take them for granted until the day comes when their songs are no longer with us. Every morning during the summer months the mornings arrive with the choruses of hundreds of different types of birds and then suddenly we awaken to almost silence and know that the cold winds of winter are not that far away.
There are hundreds of WEB pages on Wrens. Just go to your favorite search engine and type in the words - wrens or house wrens and up will come hundreds of not thousands of sites to visit. Here are a couple that should get you started.
House Wrens - A delighful article by Diane Potter http://www. http://www.birdwatching.com/stories/house_wren.html
Those Delighful Little Wrens http://www.birdsforever.com/wren.html http://www.birdsforever.com/wren.html