Wren Fledglings On Our Porch

by Karen Thompson
(Indian Springs Alabama)

We have a screened in porch with two speakers mounted at the top of the non-screened side. Every year we have wrens that decide these speakers are a great place to build a nest.

Because there is an opening between the mountings, some of the babies fall out as they grow and start to move around more.

We have come home to baby birds on the doormat for several years. I have tried climbing ladders and putting them back in the nest only to find them back on the doormat again.

This year we had two fledglings that ended up on the mat. I decided to look on the internet for advice on what options were suggested.

We put them in something like a basket and placed off the ground near their nest. My kids were all pumped up about feeding them, but I knew the mother was alive and I told them we needed to try to let her keep feeding them.

Well, both of the little ones ended up jumping out of the basket and onto the decking again.

The mother bird had been fussing at us in a nearby bush, but it was stormy and I did not want to put them under the bush with rain coming. We put them back in the basket.

One ended up out again and was dead when we found it so we put the basket straight on the decking so the little one would not have far to fall if hopped out.

We do not have a cat so we were not concerned about a predator. To our surprise the kids actually saw the mother come in and feed the baby.

Every time she flew back to the deck or when the father did, the kids would move to the other side of the porch and one of the parents would come over and feed the baby in the basket and then go feed the other babies in the nest.

One of the parents would sit on a deck chair outside the porch when the other one was looking for food.

My kids were amazed at how watchful the parents were and how many times they feed the babies in an hour.

Fearful that our excitement was going to overwhelm the wren family, I told the kids to come inside and just watch through the sliding glass door.

This morning the little baby was perched on the side of the basket and I watched the father fly over and give him a noisy "bird lecture" about something (maybe following directions) after feeding him.

It has been a great experience for our family and taught us a lot about these little neighbors.