Expert: Bluebird Bob Walshaw - 7/16/2008

Question
QUESTION: yesterday I had a mother wren and 5 baby wrens.  Today found mother dead on patio and no babies in the bird house. Mother wasn't mauled or anything, just dead.  Bird house hangs down about 2 feet from eve of  patio. Yesterday I took lots of pictures of mother, father and some of the five babies. so sad to see them gone.  Any ideas?  thanks

ANSWER: Unless the babies were big enough to leave the nest in a predator attack this has to be the work of a killer house sparrow, although snakes can get to almost any unguarded nest. However the mother's death points more to the house sparrow. Look at her closely- sometimes the heavy house sparrow bill (it is actually a weaver finch) can break a small bird's neck. Send your mailing address to walshaw1@cox.net and I will send you a free 20 page bluebird book that will give you a lot more information.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: The baby wrens were only 3 days old so didn't leave the nest on their own..thank you for your reply

Answer
Ok then it had to be a house sparrow or a snake. The mother's death remains a mystery, especially if there was no injury. She might have flown into something, especially if she was excited trying to repel an attack. This type of thing is not unusual as birds have many predators, and the killer house sparrow is the worst for some species including the small cavity nesters. If you are interested in learning more about this as I mentioned send your mailing address to walshaw1@cox.net and I will send you a free 20 page book. We send out hundreds of them all over the US and Canada.